The Guardian of Equestria
by BenCooney
Summary: When a young, newly-trained soldier with a dark past is assigned to scope out the whereabouts of a newly-opened wormhole in space, he discovers an alternate dimension, and makes a decision to explore the parallel Earth, where he embarks on a fantastic journey in which he learns about true friendship, true love, and an extraordinary power he never knew he possessed...
1. A Soldier's Promotion

**Note: Before I get started, I'd like to thank Alex The Lone Wolf and his FanFiction series for inspiring me to create this story. It means a lot, Alex. Keep up with those chapters!**

**If there are any spelling errors, let me know via email or Fanfiction review, OK?**

**Believe me when I say it, this will NOT be the only chapter. I'll be making more episodes after this one, but it'll take time. Until then, enjoy...**

**(To the followers that have previously read this chapter... I seriously should have come up with this opening text when I started this. This is a great idea...)**

* * *

_Imagine a world where everything was as normal as it would be here. Our home planet.  
__Cars, cities, the works.  
But the only difference: No such thing as MLP: FiM. The story never existed.  
At least, not in the form of a TV show.  
But what would happen if multi-dimensional travel was possible, in the form of a wormhole from space?  
What if multiple universes were accessible to a human?  
What if one of these dimensions was home to Equestria itself?  
__What if someone of great strength and courage was assigned by not only his employers, but also by a mysterious force to explore one of these dimensions?  
What if that person..._

_...was me?_

FanFiction Presents...

Tara Strong as Twilight Sparkle

Ashleigh Ball as Applejack and Rainbow Dash

Tabitha St. German as Rarity

Andrea Libman as Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy

Cathy Weseluck as Spike

And Benjamin Curtis Cooney as himself

in...

**My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic  
The Guardian of Equestria**

Episode 1 - A Soldier's Promotion

* * *

_How could this happen? Our family is in pieces. If this was God's solution, then I don't know how it could possibly help us. We've lost everything..._

I woke up almost immediately. I was in a cold sweat; a result of the dream I just escaped from. But... It didn't feel like a dream at all. It felt so real. Actually, it felt like I was reliving a moment of my past. A moment that I didn't want to live through a second time. And this wasn't the first time it had happened.

I've experienced these dreams before. Well, maybe the term, "dream" was an understatement. More like a vision of the past, or something. Anyway, I've experienced "visions" like this before, but not this frequently. Ever since I came to this place, I've been reliving all these time periods of my life. All these memories. Every single night. Sometimes good memories, sometimes bad ones. But I can't understand why. This shouldn't be happening to me.

Well, I'll have to put this aside for now. I've gotta get the important stuff out of the way before trying to figure this out.

I got up from the bed, and tried to shake off that familiar feeling of depression. I quickly put on my uniform. Just a regular, sand-colored military suit. Doesn't really change my appearance that much, though. I looked at myself through the mirror in my room. Yep. Just a regular, red haired, 15-year old kid doing what he can to keep his broken family in one piece. Strange. My face is zit-free. Shouldn't I be going through puberty right now? Oh, well. Never mind that. I've got to start packing.

I walked to the other end of my room, and picked up my helmet. Green, and a couple of scratches here and there. No bullet holes, though. I looked at the front of it, and stared at the number. 35. My soldier number. If I recall correctly, there were exactly 337 soldiers training themselves at this place, me being one of them. And I was the youngest one. A regular soldier would be 21, at the youngest. I may be supporting the Government doing this, but why should I care about _that_?

The letter said if I accepted their offer to join, I would be paid for my service. All I'm focused on right now is gaining money. I knew what had happened back home, so I needed to do my part in keeping my family from going bankrupt.

And to think that I've been training here for a good 5 months now. At least this is my final day. Time for me to take my money and leave. Man, I hope this pays well.

With my suit and helmet on, I looked at the clock on the wall. What?! 9:00 AM?! Oh, no, I overslept! The General's definitely not gonna be happy about this! Why didn't the morning alarm go off?! I frantically began stuffing my possessions into my suitcase, when I suddenly heard the announcement speaker.

"Would Soldier 35 please report to the hangar bay?" I heard it call my name.

The hangar bay? What? I thought I was supposed to head to the General's office to report in. Well, Academy orders. Better get moving.

* * *

I left my room, leaving my suitcase behind, and proceeded through the halls. Not much to look at, aside from the medals on the walls to the left, and a large window on the right, displaying the obstacle course outside. Hm. I thought there was supposed to be soldiers training out there. Come to think of it, there wasn't even anyone in the halls. Just me, and the silence that followed. What's going on? I hope the General won't be mad that I woke up late. Then again, he's not usually an angry type.

As I proceeded to the elevator, I looked at a banner on the left side of the wall. It portrayed the military building, and all its employees. Below the picture were some colored words that easily described this place...

**THE HEROES ACADEMY**

Turning men into well-trained soldiers since 1998

Pretty coincidental. That's the same year I was born in.

I walked into the elevator, and pressed the button to Floor 20 as the doors closed. Highest floor in the building. Not counting the roof, of course. As I felt the elevator rise, I thought about why no one was around. Why am I going to the hangar bay to report in, anyway? That's where the military ships are kept. But I'm not supposed be there unless I'm doing flight training. And this is the day I leave. I can't possibly be doing any flights today. And where are the others? Am I in trouble? Or maybe...? Perhaps this has something to do with yesterday...

The elevator doors opened, revealing the hangar bay, and giving me a pretty big surprise. Every soldier in the Academy was lined up single file to my left. What's this all about? As I walked past them, they all saluted me, as if _I_ was the General. As confused as I was, I tried to be subtle about it. I just gave each of them a look of casualty.

I looked ahead to the front of the line, and I saw him waiting for me. General Clinton. He was wearing his green uniform, several pins on his chest, and a smile on his face, as usual. And standing next to him was... The President? I knew it! I had a feeling this might have been about that occurrence in D.C.

Yesterday, a terrorist attack took place at the White House, and the criminals behind it planned to murder the President, and, as they put it, "take control". Every troop in the Academy was sent to D.C to prevent it, even me. I was the only one that managed to put a stop to it. And I did it without even taking a bullet! I managed to make a surprise appearance via the outside air ducts, and cripple them, one by one. It's not like I wanted to shoot them in the legs, but I'm afraid that's what they get for holding the most powerful man in the free world at gunpoint. No one got seriously hurt, but the criminals got it pretty bad when they were arrested.

They were sentenced to death, which I actually found pretty harsh. Personally, I don't like to see people die, no matter how severe their crimes are. The words of a Christian. Like the rest of my family, I follow God for a reason. I know there are a lot of people that believe that God isn't even real. Then there are the people that don't even know about him. But for me, he's like a friend. A guide that escorts me through life.

At least, that's what I _used_ to see him as. Nowadays, I'm just neutral about him. I'm really just confused about him. I don't really know whether he's on my side or not, ever since that day. As I continued walking to the front of the line, I thought back again on why I was here in the first place...

* * *

5 months ago, sometime before my I got that message from the Heroes Academy, something happened that almost made me lose hope in God altogether, and left me in complete despair. I lived in Salem, Oregon with my family: Mom, Dad, my 16-year old brother, Tom, My 7-year old brother, Steven, and my 12-year old sister, Alice, who looked after our pets: Our black Labrador, Rufus, and our 2 cats, Diana and Minerva.

We lived in a small house that easily blended in with the surrounding neighborhood. A modest place, but it definitely felt like home. We were a good-hearted family that got along with each other fairly easily, and followed God in our lives. But then, something changed all that for me.

Something wasn't right. Dad had left the house, and was staying at Grandma's place for a while. At first, I was fine with it. I thought he was just visiting his mom. But when he came back home, he just began packing more of his stuff, and left again without a word. And every so often, I heard Mom crying in her room. And the only person who seemed to notice it was me.

At the time, I had no idea what was going on, but I didn't like it. One night, I decided to try to get help. Before going to bed, I prayed to God, telling him what was happening, and asked if he could help us. Afterwards, I just went to sleep, and hoped he could do something about this.

The next day, I talked to my friend Wesley about it. He was also Christian, same age as me. I told him everything I knew, but he didn't have a very good idea of what might be happening. He did wish me luck with it, like friends do, so I felt a little better. I thanked him, and began to hope that my prayer to God would help.

Apparently, it didn't. At least, from what I know right now. That night, Dad came back, and he and Mom called me and my siblings into the living room. Mom was crying a bit, so I knew this was bad news. As soon as every member of the family was gathered up, they prepared to announce something I'll _never_ forget.

Apparently, Mom and Dad weren't getting along as well as we thought they were. I had no idea why, though, because from what I had seen, they got along just fine in the past. Dad was also going through some stressing moments, which I didn't know about at all. I mean, he's usually bright-spirited. He's got a decent job as a cop, he's got a wife, and some responsible kids. What could he possibly be going through that I don't know about?

But the next thing they said was just... _horrible._ They said it was the best thing to do, and they saw no other solution to the problem. In order to keep taking care of us, and for Dad to make it through his stressful times, they had to file for... for... _Divorce_.

Hearing that word delivered a huge chill of shock to me, which quickly changed to both confusion and sorrow. We'd been a full family for as long as I can remember, and now _this_ was gonna happen?! I didn't understand! _This _was God's solution to our problem?! Tearing the family apart?! I couldn't believe I was hearing this!

Traumatized and reduced to tears, I fled to my room, and just lay on my bed, grieving over everything. I wasn't just upset about this. I was _terrified_! If a divorce was taking place, that meant splitting the amount of money we had, and we didn't even have that much! If we couldn't pay off the mortgage for our house in a year from now, we'd lose everything. We'd probably be forced to live life on the street! What did we do to deserve this?

I couldn't believe God had done this to us. I just stayed there, and cried into my pillow. And I didn't care that I was 15. It was the worst experience of my life, and right now, I _never_ want to relive it! Tom came in a minute later, and told me that we would be able to get through this, but I didn't have the heart to believe him. After that, I remained in a deep depression for a whole week, mourning over the loss of our once joyous family.

If there was anyone to be angry at, it was God. But I wasn't. I had no one to blame. I was heart-broken by the whole experience, but at the same time, I couldn't understand why God had done this to us. Was it for a reason? Were we being punished? At that moment, the only thing I really wanted was an answer to taking care of the mortgage, and an answer on why God made this happen.

I was so depressed, I couldn't even eat. I never even left the house. I just remained in pure bitterness, waiting for the eviction that was to come. Until one day, I realized something.

Maybe I could find a way to get money for the family. If I got a job, I could try to make as much money as possible. For the next 2 days, I looked for some employment around town, but I couldn't find anything. I began to get desperate. For 3 more days, I frantically started looking for a job somewhere, but in the end, all I got was discouraged. I was too young for anything. I finally just gave up, and began to return to my depression.

Then one day, Mom asked me to get the mail, and when I did, I found something that looked like a miracle. A letter from a corporation in New York known as the Heroes Academy offered to train mature men into military soldiers for no payment. But when I read that the corporation payed training soldiers for their service, I immediately told Mom about it.

My plan was to join this academy, and hopefully get the 15,000 dollars we needed to pay off the mortgage, and keep our home. I was willing to work my _life_ into this if it meant saving my family from living on the streets. Besides, I didn't really see any other choice.

Mom was reluctant, but she eventually agreed, seeing that I was serious about this. She sent the letter back, saying that I had accepted, and the next day, I packed up, said my farewells, and took the long trip to New York that brought me here.

According to the General, I was a "special case", being the youngest trainee. Apparently, my rankings in athleticism and weapon accuracy were off the charts. I knew how to wield and fire a Class 23 Rifle, how to pilot an M404 PI military ship, and I even knew how to handle a guy in unarmed combat!

And when I learned the basics, I didn't stop there. I put myself into the advanced class of training. The Danger Zone. I put my life on the line, doing everything I could to save my family from eviction. I did whatever it took. One day, the General, concerned about my actions, asked me about the situation, and I told him about my problems, and why I needed money so badly. He understood me perfectly, and even offered to give me money for the mortgage. But I had been at the Heroes Academy long enough to know that if you want something, you have to _earn _it.

So, he let me do what I thought was right, and wished me luck. I kept on advancing through the training, trying my best not to look like a showoff in front of the other soldiers. It took months of energy and effort, but I ended up mastering every possible task, astounding the General, and everyone in the Academy. I had physical abilities that I never even knew I possessed.

And now, I've gone from a regular kid to a gun-wielding warrior. Honestly, I didn't think I'd have to take measures as drastic as this. I may have been given a lot of praise for my extraordinary talent, but that doesn't matter to me. Right now, I'm ready to go home, and take whatever money I earned. I just hope I've achieved my goal of 15,000.

But... I'm secretly surprised by this. How is it that I have these raw physical abilities, and I didn't know it for 15 years? It doesn't make sense. Neither does my zit-free face, or the "visions" I've been having every night. Maybe God's trying to tell me something? Hm. Well, until then...

* * *

When I made it to the front of the hangar bay, where the General and the President were waiting, I stood in front of them, and waited for any orders. I didn't know what they were gonna do, but I had a slight hunch they might be thanking me or something. I still had no idea why every soldier was in here, though. A send-off, maybe?

"Congratulations, Captain." The General surprised me with these words. At this point, I couldn't keep my confusion hidden anymore.

"'Captain'? What are you talking about?" I questioned. "And what's _this_ all about?" I looked back at the line of soldiers. "Shouldn't these guys be training?"

"Not when there's a proper promotion needed for the greatest example of military training in the entire Academy." He explained.

"Promotion?" I asked.

"Exactly! You're a role model to this entire army here, Benjamin. You've shown us that it pays to risk your own life to fight for the good of our country, no matter what age!" He took out a small box, and opened it, revealing a small, golden, Aviator wing pin.

"Therefore, it is with great pleasure that I present you with this badge." He placed it on my chest, and saluted me. "For your months of service, I am officially promoting you to the Captain of the Military Command Fleet!"

The rest of the crew cheered, and I was just left in surprise.

"I... I don't understand." I responded. "This isn't even what I wanted. All I really want is to get money for my family's mortgage."

The General kept his smile. "I am well aware of that." He turned his head to the President, then back to me. "You see, Mr. President and I have been discussing your success with the terrorist attack yesterday. I'm sure you're aware of that."

"Only too well." I said, recalling the bloody incident.

The President spoke up. "I don't know if you realize it, but what you did was incredibly heroic. You saved my life, and I thank you for that." He shook my hand with gratitude.

"No need for that, sir." I politely declined. "I don't like to see innocent people die, and it was the right thing to do."

"Well, whether you take pride in it or not, you have my gratitude. And I'd like to return the favor."

"Really? How so?" I asked, becoming intrigued by this.

"With this." He responded by taking out a silver briefcase, and presenting it to me. "One million dollars."

My mouth dropped in shock. I could only stare at him in disbelief. "Wh- One million?!"

"Plus an extra 50,000 from the Academy." The General added.

My shock quickly turned to excitement as the President handed me the briefcase. I opened it up to see several wads of money, waiting to be spent. Wow. I didn't just achieve my goal. I got a huge bonus! 1,050,000 dollars?! This was _fantastic_! My family's troubles were over!

"I... I don't know what to say. Thank you. This is amazing. But..." I looked around again. "Why are we doing this in the hangar bay?"

"Because there's one other thing we'd like to show you." The General answered. "Come with us."

* * *

I picked up the briefcase, and followed the General and the President into another part of the hangar bay. The lights weren't on, and it was incredibly dark.

"So, why are we here?" I asked.

I hear the General's voice respond. "Well, you see..." I heard a button being pressed, and the hangar door opened up, letting in the daylight from outside, and revealing a small, car-sized aircraft that didn't look anything like the regular military ships. In fact, it didn't even look like an aircraft.

"You can't be Captain of the Military Command Fleet without your own ship!" The General declared.

I stared at the ship in awe. It was sleek, modern, and it looked fantastic. It was silver-colored, with a bit of blue paintwork in some spots for detail. There was a spoiler wing attached to the back of it, and 4 cylindrical cannons installed on the sides of the ship, with a translucent cockpit in the middle.

I began to walk around it, admiring its amazing appearance. When I took a look at it from the back, I saw a jet exhaust installed at the rear.

"Wow. This is fantastic!" I exclaimed. "How the heck did you make this?"

"Well, admittedly, it wasn't easy." The General said. "But we finally pulled it off. Your training skills were outstanding, but it was your flight training that really stood out. Your accuracy and control with the military ships proved that you're ready to have a license to pilot this spacecraft."

"Wait. What?" I asked, dumbstruck. "This thing is capable of _space travel_?"

"Yes." The President responded. "This is the T-500 SpaceCar. It is an extremely durable ship, made of titanium metal, with a weaponry cache, a small cargo bay, and a built-in computer included. The ship's interior includes a tri-powered jet engine for air flight and space travel, and an atomic shield generator that can protect the ship from just about anything, even its own firepower."

Whoa! A tri-powered jet engine? Those are _incredibly_ rare!

"And there's also a built-in hyperdrive for long-distance space travel." He continued. "We were lucky NASA approved of this. Otherwise, it wouldn't even be capable of breaching the atmosphere."

A hyperdrive?! Oh, now I _really_ want to ride this! I looked at the cockpit. "How do I get in?" I questioned.

"With this." The General came up to me, and handed me a key card. It had a pilot's license on it, with my ID picture, and a bar code at the bottom.

"How does it work?" I asked.

"Let me show you." The General took me to the left of the ship, and showed me a thin slot on the hull. "Insert the bar code side of the card into that slot there.

I pushed the card in, and a small door next to the slot opened up, revealing a keypad with numbers. Removing the card, I took a better look at the keypad. There was an empty, 4-digit data screen above it.

I turned to the General. "A number code?" I guessed.

"Precisely." He said. "It hasn't been given a code yet, so you can type any code you're OK with, as long as you remember it."

I turned back to the keypad, and thought for a moment. What kind of code would be easy to remember? I finally decided on a decent code, and typed it in. I looked up at the data screen again. In green letters, it displayed the exact code I had typed in: **1537**. After I pressed the Enter button, the ship beeped, and the keypad door closed. I looked up at the cockpit, which clicked open, inviting me inside.

I climbed into the cockpit, and found it pretty roomy. The seat was comfortable and adjustable, and there was a bunch of other stuff in the front. There was a computer screen with several options to choose from, a control panel to adjust the speed and firepower of the ship, and even a built-in keyboard! This was _very_ impressive!

And the controls were very similar to the military ships. It had an airplane-type steering wheel, with a red button on the tip of both handles. The gun triggers. There was also the gas and brake pedal. Easy to remember. I could fly this thing back home!

"What's its fuel source?" I asked.

"Press that green button to your left." The General told me.

I glanced back at the left side of the control panel. There was a small, green button with a yellow lightning bolt symbol on it. I pressed it, and I heard part of the ship open from the outside. I jumped out of the cockpit, and saw what had opened up: Another door on the hull of the ship, revealing a large battery case with a golden battery encased in it. The battery looked about 7 inches long.

"Hm. What kind of battery is it?" I questioned the President.

"A Single-X Battery. The only one of its kind." He explained. "It can run for 3 months before it needs to be recharged."

"Which reminds me." The General replied. He took out a red-handled briefcase, like the one filled with money, but it was white, and a bit smaller. "You're gonna need this, too. It's an Emergency Repair Kit. It includes the tools you've practiced with during your training, and one other device."

He opened it up, revealing a bunch of tools I was familiar with. There was the blowtorch, the electric screwdriver, and the rest of the equipment. There was only one I wasn't familiar with: A white and blue box with a single battery outlet, and an on/off switch. It also had a black plug-in cord attached. A battery charger.

"The battery charger is imperative to your ship's flight. You can place this repair kit in the cargo bay when you're not using it. Just make sure you don't lose it. The cargo button should be pretty easy to find on the control panel. It's labeled." The General explained.

"Oh, OK." I quickly understood, as I took the repair kit. "So, is there anything else I need to know about?"

"Well, there's one last thing." The General took a black wrist watch out of his pocket, and gave it to me. "You'll need to keep this wrist watch on at all times. As Captain of the Command Fleet, you'll need to take on missions assigned by me. You'll need this for whenever I contact you."

I put the watch on my right hand, and observed it. "Will you contact me daily?"

"No, but I will call you whenever there's an emergency, or if there's an assignment from NASA. But for now, you're ready to head home, and help your family with the mortgage."

"I'm doing more than that. I'm saving my family from eviction! We might actually be able to get a new house with this money! This means everything to me. Thank you so much, sir. You don't know how happy I am about this. All our problems are solved because of you."

"No. They're solved because of _you._"The General put his hand on my shoulder. "You put your life at risk in an effort to help your family, and you even saved the President from certain death. You deserve that much, boy."

"Thanks, General." I said, content with my success. "I'll be able to leave right away."

"Very well. Just pack your stuff, and we'll be prepared to give you the proper send-off."

"Roger that. But there's no need for the send-off, sir. I'll be fine without it."

"Alright. If you say so."

* * *

Back in my room, I started removing my uniform to put on my regular clothes. I'm just so overjoyed by this. I've achieved the money we need for the mortgage, and then some. Plus, my own ship, and a position as Captain of the Command Fleet! This was so awesome! It was almost too good to be true!

When I had put on my regular clothes, I looked at my soldier uniform again. The golden pin was still there. So, I took it off of the uniform, and attached it to my blue shirt. This was definitely gonna be something to keep. I looked at myself in the mirror again. This time, I was looking at my whole body, and what I was wearing.

A blue T-shirt, (pin included) an unzipped gray hoodie, and a pair of black sweatpants, with a green stripe on each leg. My regular style. After staring at myself in the mirror for a few more seconds, I put my uniform in my suitcase, closed it, and left my room again.

This time, the rest of the troopers were walking around the halls, and when they turned their attention towards me, they immediately cheered, while I just shot them a look of joy. I entered the elevator to the hangar bay again, but this time, with a feeling of accomplishment. I feel like I've achieved the impossible. I feel so great, I might as well be cheering, too!

Once again, I entered the hangar bay. No one was in here, but I was OK with that. I don't need glory to know I've finished my work. After putting the money briefcase, the repair kit, and my suitcase into the cargo bay, I immediately boarded my ship, showing no hesitation. Pressing the Launch button, I heard the engines fire up, and prepared to get into the air. But as I did, I saw the General by the hangar door.

"I hope to see you soon, Ben! It's been an honor training you! Good luck with your family!" He called out over the ship's engines.

With my confidence restored, I saluted him with two fingers, closed the cockpit, and pressed my foot on the gas pedal, taking off at full speed. It felt like I was on a roller-coaster! The speed felt amazing, and built on the content feeling of my success. This is it. I'm finally going home.

As I flew, I looked back at the academy building, and a crazy thought came into my head.

I think I'm actually gonna miss that place a bit...


	2. Return to Oakman

**Note: Now things are beginning to unfold a bit...****  
****FYI, Chicken Invaders is actually a real game. You can find its series at the Interaction Studios website...****  
**

Episode 2 - Return to Oakman

* * *

Now, by logic, a plane trip from New York to Oregon would take about 3 to 5 days. But from experience, I can tell you that when you're riding a ship with a tri-powered jet engine, it only takes a good 5 minutes! And that's exactly how long it took for me to find myself hovering above my neighborhood.

I looked down to see every neighbor's house in range, along with others on the horizon. I was _that_ high. I began lowering my ship to find a place to land, eventually "parking" it right next to the sidewalk, away from any cars that might pass. I've seen cars parked like that, and it is a _spacecar. _So, you know. Traffic regulations.

I immediately exited the cockpit, and looked at my house. A gray-tiled roof, no stories unless you count the attic in the garage, and a minivan in the driveway. May look small, but it was incredibly roomy inside. For a guy that had been away for 5 months, it was definitely home sweet home. I quickly grabbed my money briefcase and suitcase, leaving the repair kit where it belonged, and made my way up the front door.

I put down the suitcases on the front porch, and knocked on the door. I heard Rufus bark, and footsteps coming from the inside. This is it. Man, Mom is gonna love this. Speaking of Mom, I heard her voice call from the other side.

"Who is it?"

"Does this voice remind you of anyone?" I jokingly responded.

"What?" She immediately opened the door, and I managed to get a good look at her. Black hair, glasses, and regular Summer clothes. 5 months, and she hadn't changed a bit. I assumed she had the same thoughts for me. She immediately put her hand to her mouth as tears began forming in her eyes. Before she could say anything, I walked up to her, and embraced her as a sign of my return.

"It's alright, Mom. I'm back."

She hugged me back with joy. "Oh, Ben. I missed you so much. I'm so glad you're home."

"Hey, Mom! Who's at the door?" I heard an all-too familiar voice coming from the door to our left. We pulled away from each other to see a 16-year old with black hair, a gray shirt, and jeans. My brother, Tom. He immediately recognized my face.

"Hey, you're finally back, Ben!" He exclaimed. "It's been quiet without you!"

"You know me. I never get myself outta trouble." I replied.

"Well, you always did crazy things back then." He returned. "Still, the last thing I thought you'd become is a trained soldier."

"That's Soldier 35 to you, sir." I remarked with a mischievous smirk on my face.

He took a look at my chest. "I like that badge on your shirt." He continued. "Is it an award?"

I looked down at the golden pin. "Actually, it represents my position as Captain of the Military Command Fleet."

"Captain of the what?" Mom questioned.

"The Military Command Fleet." I repeated. "But this isn't the only thing that represents my position. Look." I stuck my thumb out, pointing it behind me. My ship was there, gleaming in the sun. You could only imagine their surprise.

"They gave you a vehicle?" Tom asked, fascinated.

"Pilot's license, repair kit, and all. And I also got _this_!" I answered, taking the silver briefcase and giving it to Mom. She opened it up to find the money, leaving her in awe again.

"A million dollars from the President, plus 50,000 from the Academy." I clarified.

"The President?" Mom asked. "Why would you get money from the President?"

"Let me show you." I brought my suitcase inside, escorted them through the door to the left, and Googled a news report from the computer.

"This just in from Fox News." The News announcer said from the video I had found from YouTube. "A terrorist attack on the White House left several people in panic. The criminals behind the attack planned to murder the President, and it seemed like they would succeed in doing so, had it not been for the Heroes Academy General in New York. He saw this as an opportunity to prove how well his soldiers had been trained, and sent them to put a stop to the onslaught." The video displayed camera footage of soldiers trying to advance up the field.

"Many marines had been crippled by the enemy's bullets shot from the windows, and none of them gained access to the President's mansion. Except for one. Benjamin Cooney, Soldier 35, managed to slip by the line of fire, and infiltrate the attackers through the air ducts." More footage showed me breaking open the hidden air vent from the side of the mansion, and crawling in. "He was the youngest soldier in the entire Academy, and he succeeded in saving the President's life without getting shot once. The criminals were sentenced to death while Soldier 35 was praised for his actions. The President, grateful for his rescue, promised the press that he would reward Benjamin."

When the video was finished, the 2 of them just stared at me in complete shock.

"You saved Obama?!" Tom questioned me in amazement.

"The President gave you a million dollars as an award?" Mom asked with the same expression on her face.

"I know, I know. It was the _craziest _thing I've _ever _done! But at least I didn't get hurt." I told them.

"Are you kidding? This is _amazing!_ I didn't think you'd risk your own life to help someone other than yourself!" Tom said to me in astonishment.

"I was never like that in the first place, Tom. The whole reason I went to that Academy in the first place was to get money for the mortgage."

Mom looked at me with a worried, but gentle face. "You're that concerned about our family, aren't you?"

"Why wouldn't I be? This is the only home we've got. I don't want that to be taken away from us." I looked at the briefcase again. "Although, I didn't really expect a million. But it's an amazing accomplishment for me."

Mom got up from the chair she was in, and embraced me again. "Well, whether it's a million of not, I'm proud of you for looking out for us."

"That's what a Christian does." I replied.

"Yep. You follow God, no matter what." Tom added.

Suddenly, I felt a piece of depression emerge in me. I suddenly pulled away Mom's hug and looked at Tom. I know I'm Christian, but I can't stand hearing _His _name being mentioned. Not when it reminds me of that fateful day.

"Ben? You OK?" Tom asked, with a look of concern.

I managed to shake off the depression again. "I... It's nothing."

"You still concerned about the div-"

I immediately cut him off. "_Don't. _Just don't." That was enough for me. I quickly left the room.

* * *

I started heading to my room, trying my best to remove that moment from my head. I just can't relive that catastrophe. I just _can't. _Not when it gives me that horrible feeling of depression.

When I made it to my room, I saw that nothing had changed here, either. A metal bunk-bed, a cupboard with my possessions, a Wii and TV moved into the room, and my 7-year old brother, Steven, included. He was playing Mario Kart Wii, but when he saw me in the room, he put down the controller, and wrapped his arms around me, despite his small size.

"Ben! You're back! It's been so long!" He exclaimed with delight. This lifted my spirit a bit. "Where have you been?"

I kneeled down to his size when he pulled away. "Let's just say I've been tying up some loose ends." I told him.

He innocently looked down at my feet. "What? Like tying your shoes?"

"Actually, 'tying up loose ends' means to take care of unfinished things." I explained.

"Oh, OK." He easily understood. He walked over to the Wii again, and took out a second Wii remote. "Wanna play Multiplayer?" He pointed to the TV displaying the game.

I got up on my feet again. "No, you can keep playing solo."

I sat on the bottom bunk of the bed, and watched him play Mario Kart for a bit. I shared the same room with him. He had the top bed bunk, I had the bottom. A room with necessary entertainment. I had conveniently ended my training at the start of Summer Vacation, so I guess I was free to succumb to the qualities of leisure for now. No missions from the General, no responsibilities... Guess I'm good to go.

Eventually, I decided to pull out one of my old Harry Potter books. I had finished the entire series, but I went back to them every so often to take a look at some specific moments. In this case, I decided to take another look at a quote from Chapter 5 of Book 1...

_Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand._

Hm. Imagine that. I started thinking a bit. If there were real wizard wands in the world, would they work the same way as they did in the Harry Potter world? A DNA sample of a magical creature sealed inside a carved stick? I always liked the style of Harry Potter wands. Usually a simple handle with the rest of the wand perfectly straight, pointed at something for a spell. Personally, I think Wand magic is the best kind of magic.

What would happen if magic were accessible to everyone in the world? Would people take it for granted? Use it to their advantage? Or would they use it for the greater good? I wonder what would happen if _I _had magic. What would I do then? Would I be able to make the world a better place? Or maybe I could use it to stop my parents from...

I suddenly felt my depression return again. I closed my eyes in sorrow, shedding a tear. I may have saved us from eviction, but I still didn't feel like all my problems were over. Our family was still broken. How did we come to this? What was Dad going through that would drive him to make this horrible decision? If only I could ask God why he made this happen... Then again, what good would _He _do? He'd probably just make my life even _more_ miserable.

I just lay there, blocking Steven's game out. Luckily, my depression slowly faded away, and eventually, I didn't feel quite as bad as before. There's gotta be more to this. I mean, "not getting along" and "going through stressful times" isn't enough information for me. Why is this happening? Come to think of it, why am _I _reliving moments of my past every night? Is something wrong with me? Is it a message? Well, if it is, it could take time to make any sense of it.

To be honest, I don't really think I can resort to God for help. Besides, if a prayer to him asking to help our family doesn't work, then nothing does. I mean, I believe in God and all that, but I actually kind of... well..._ hate_ him for this. I know it's wrong, but... I just can't stand thinking about him right now. I may not know what Heaven's like, but He's probably having a good time with everyone else up there, while _I'm _living with a family that's been split in 2. It's like He's torturing me.

I guess it's all up to me, now. I'm just gonna have to find an opportunity to look into this divorce more. Maybe even find some more information. And to think that a thought of magic made me think about all this. What I wouldn't give for a way to eliminate this depression. It's things like this that make me wish magic really existed...

Suddenly, I realized something. Where's Alice? Shouldn't she be here? I mean, she'd probably be happy to see me too. Maybe she's not in the house. I immediately got up, and walked into the living room. There was Tom, sitting in a chair, and texting one of his friends with his phone. When I came in, he stopped for a minute and looked at me.

"Hey, you alright?" He asked.

I just sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry about that, OK? I forgot about how much you hate thinking about that." I could tell he meant it.

"It's OK, Tom. I'm fine. Just got a bit shaken." I looked around. "Where's Alice?"

"Mom let her head down to Roth's to spend her money. Probably on candy, for all I know." He answered.

Uh-oh...

"Why?" He questioned.

"Oh, just wondering." I lied. Oh, this was bad. I had gone down to Roth's and back up the path to home enough times to know that it can actually be pretty dangerous. Especially when there's a gang of money-stealing bums hanging around there almost every day. If those guys are down there today...

* * *

I started walking toward Roth's to check on Alice, still wearing my hoodie. I didn't really care that I was wearing it during June, though. It wasn't a heavy coat, anyway. I sure hope those guys aren't down there today. They _always _find a victim to pick on down there, and I knew for a fact that they would see Alice as fresh meat. Especially if she had candy with her. I just hope I'm not too late.

As I continued making my way there, I looked to the right to see that green street sign. On it were 6 capital letters that named our street perfectly: Oakman. Just a simple street name, but easy to remember.

As I proceeded, I suddenly heard a voice from behind me. "Where do you think you're going without me?" I quickly turned around to see a familiar face: Black hair, red sweatpants, a black shirt, and a thin, brown leather jacket, he was none other than my friend, Wesley.

"Stalking me again?" I questioned with a smile on my face. He _did _have a tendency to sneak up on me before jumping out without warning. Scared the crazy outta me, but I actually thought my reactions were hilarious. Like Bill Cosby says, when a person is scared, that's the only time he's really himself.

Wesley laughed a bit, and we did our greeting handshake: We fistbumped, snapped our fingers, and slapped our right hands both ways.

"Great to see you again, man! Where you been?" He asked me.

"Taking care of unfinished business..." I responded.

"I'm afraid that's not enough information for me, dude." He reacted. "You've been away for almost half a year, and I need some proper answers."

I was reluctant a bit. But I quickly gave in. He's my friend. I can trust him. "OK, OK, I'll tell you. So, you remember back when I told you that my Dad had left the house?"

"Like you thought I wouldn't? That was the last conversation we had in months!" He pointed out.

"Well... Apparently, my parents are filing for divorce." I'd originally be rather depressed mentioning this, but telling it to my friend was different. I actually felt a little bit comfortable revealing it. You don't usually keep secrets from others.

"Whoa, really? Man, right in the feels! So sorry about that, man."

"It's OK, Wes. Well, sort of..."

"Why would your parents be divorcing?" He asked.

"Well... Honestly, I don't really know. I mean, they _did _say Dad was going through some 'stressful moments', but I can quite make any sense of that. But what I _really _can't make sense of is the fact that he and Mom weren't getting along quite as well as we thought. I mean, I've rarely seen them argue. And when they _do _argue, it's usually about some logical question. And those aren't arguments where they get at each other's throats!" I admitted.

"Hm. That _is _confusing." He said. "But, how does that explain you being gone for so long? I even tried visiting your house."

"Long story." I told him. "But for now, I gotta check on my sister. She's at Roth's."

"Oh, that's bad." He commented. "I saw that gang down there earlier today."

"_WHAT?!_" I exclaimed. "Oh, man! Now we _really _gotta get down there!"

With that, the 2 of us started running down the road to Roth's.

* * *

It only took about 50 seconds for us to catch sight of the store. When we turned the corner, I saw exactly what I didn't want to see. A 12-year old, red-haired girl forced into a corner by 5 tall, 16-year old, money-stealing morons. For reasons unknown, they always wore their jeans backwards. Probably rebelling against civilized people or something.

"I'm not telling you again! Hand over the bag, or we'll _make _you!" I heard the leader demand with a shaking fist.

"And _I'm _not telling _you _again! You can't have my stuff! Now leave me alone!" Alice retorted. She was a stubborn type, but I knew she wouldn't be able to defend herself against these creeps.

"So, how are you gonna do it?" I heard Wesley ask me. "You gonna take them on immediately, or try to get her outta-"

I just began walking towards them. "Oh, OK. Take them on." Wesley reacted behind me. "Be careful."

I saw the leader of the gang grab Alice's arm. "Fine! We'll do this the _hard _way!"

"_Let go of my sister, you big scumbag_!" I yelled from behind him. All 5 of them immediately turned towards me. Even Alice got a good look at me. "Ben?!"

The leader developed a smirk on his face. "Well, well, well. The Red-Headed Runner. Glad to see you again." He greeted in his smug way.

"The feeling isn't mutual, Jonathon." I shot back with a look of anger and determination on my face.

"You've been away for quite a while. We've missed having fun with you, shrimp." Jonathon said.

"My idea of fun isn't chasing a guy all the way back home every time he decides to come here, you twisted psychopath." It was true. Almost _every _time I went down there, they came after me with beatings, but never got the chance to actually throw a punch at me. I outran them every time. I guess I could thank them for giving me some exercise, though. Sure helped at the Academy.

"Oh, you got insults, twerp?" Jon commented. "Fine. We'll just take care of you before we deal with your sister!"

They all cracked their knuckles, and proceeded to charge at me, but by that time, I knew exactly how to take care of them. The second they began charging at me, I jumped to the left, and pushed my foot off the wall. As soon as I landed behind them, I turned around, raised my leg, and gave Jon a hard kick in the back, causing the rest of his gang to stumble onto the ground. Immediately afterwards, I came over to Alice's aid, still holding her shopping bag.

"Where were you?" Alice asked me. "It's been 6 months!"

"First off, it's been 5!" I corrected her. "Second, does it look like I can answer that now? I need to get you outta here!"

But before we could make a run for it, one of the gang members had cut off our retreat, and I could only watch as the rest of the group proceeded to surround us. Making sure Alice was behind me, I prepared to do what I could to hold them off.

"You're gonna regret that, shrimp!" Jon yelled, as he got up from the ground. I could tell he was gonna go for me on his own. This is not good.

"Alice, when I tell you to, run!" I commanded.

"What about you? You won't stand a chance against these guys!" She said, concerned for my safety.

"Don't worry about me! Just get out of here when I say!" I didn't care if I was going home with every bone in my body missing. _No one _hurts my sister!

Just as they were about to start attacking, something happened that actually made them flinch. I noticed that something was emitting a golden glow. And it was coming from _my _direction! I looked down at my chest to find that my Aviator pin was glowing like a lantern! It seemed to be fending them off, but I was too shocked to tell Alice to make a break for it.

Before I knew it, the pin began creating bright-blue sparks that were circling me like electrons around an atom. _Then, _my body was suddenly lifted in the air, leaving my sister and Jonathon's gang in surprise, while I just remained speechless, with no idea of what was happening. Suddenly, everything went white, and I seemed to feel something in my chest build up, like some kind of energy.

"_WHAT THE-_" was all that came out of my mouth when a loud boom interrupted my state of shock. Was that an explosion? I suddenly felt myself hit the ground, and everything seemed to just fade away. I started feeling incredibly tired, like I didn't have the ability to stay awake. Eventually, I just lost consciousness altogether, and everything blacked out.

* * *

_Ben! Wake up! Come on, dude! Wake up!_

_Wait! I think he's moving!_

I started opening my eyes to find that I was being shaken a bit by Wesley. Next to him was Alice, with a look of worry. I looked around to see that I was lying on the ground, still next to Roth's, and my head was throbbing like crazy.

"Ben, are you OK?" Alice asked me.

I got up on my feet, holding my head. Other than that, I wasn't hurt. "Whoa. What happened?"

"I was gonna ask the same thing." Wesley said. "Your eyes just went white. _Glowing_ white. It was like you lost your pupils or something!"

I looked around again. "Where's Jonathon?"

"He and his gang left after you scared them off." Alice told me. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" I asked, still confused on what had happened.

"After your eyes went white, some kind of shock wave burst from your chest. It sent Jonathon's crew flying backwards. They ran for their _lives _after that." Wesley explained. "How the heck did you pull that off?"

"I... I don't know." I reacted, dumbstruck. How could I possibly do something as crazy as that? Come to think of it, _why _would I do that? Obviously, it wasn't intended.

"Hey... What happened to your eyes?" Wesley suddenly asked me.

"My eyes?"

"They're blue!" Alice exclaimed.

"They're _what?_" I asked. "I think I'm gonna need a mirror!"

"Come on. Let's go!"

We started heading back up the road to home, but we were a bit less talkative this time. All we could do was think about that incident back at the store. What was that all about, anyway? Hovering off the ground, sparks circling me, and my eyes glowing white? How was that even possible? It was like... Magic? But... No. That can't be right. There's no such thing!

"So, Ben!" Wesley suddenly piped up, probably trying to forget the previous incident. "About our conversation earlier, where were you for the last few months again?"

"Well, I can definitely say it _has _been a while. I never thought I would have to train myself that much."

"Train yourself? What?" He asked.

* * *

So, I told him _everything_. From the Academy's message, to the promotion, he heard every word. And my sister listened along.

"That's your explanation?" He questioned me after I had finished. Guess he was a bit skeptical, but I don't blame him. "You saved the President, became a millionaire, and got a spaceship?"

"Well, if you wanna put it that way." I replied.

"And how exactly am I supposed to believe that?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I have to go with Wesley." Alice chimed in.

"Well, you might wanna take a look." We had just made it to our house. The ship was still parked on the side of the road, untouched. The 2 of them saw the ship, and their mouths were left agape in surprise. I kinda figured they'd have a reaction like that.

"Whoa! You weren't kidding!" Wesley said in astonishment.

"Would I lie to you?" I responded.

"It looks exactly like the ship from that game you used to play!" Alice said.

"What, Chicken Invaders?" I clarified.

"Yeah!"

They went up to the vehicle, and found it rather pleasant to look at, kind of like I did when I first saw it back at the hangar bay. And I couldn't blame them. Like I said, it looked fantastic!

"So it's called a T-500 SpaceCar?" Wesley asked.

"Yep. And it's the only one in the world. Comes with weaponry, a hyperdrive, and even a built-in computer." I described my vessel.

"Could _I_ ride it?" He asked.

"Um, no." I replied. "The General said it's only for me to pilot. Besides, you'd need a pilot's license, anyway."

"Hm. Oh, well. Nice ride, though. It's really cool." He complimented.

"Yeah, it looks awesome." Alice added.

"If you think that's something, you should see how fast it goes." I included.

Suddenly, we heard ringing coming from Wesley. "Oh, hold on." He immediately took out a phone from his pocket, and answered it. "Hello? Oh, hey Mom. What's up?... He did what?... On the _couch?..._ Uh-oh. OK, I'm on my way." He hung up and turned to us. "I gotta go. My dog needs to be taken to the doctor." He started heading up to his house. "See ya! Good luck with that ship!"

"See ya, Wes!" I turned to Alice. "Come on. Let's go."

So, we both made our way up the yard, and back inside, leaving my ship to bask in the sunlight.

* * *

The rest of the day went pretty normal. I had to respond to some Emails and Facebook posts that were left for me, but aside from that, everything went perfectly fine. At some point in the day, I took a look at myself through the mirror in the bathroom. They were right. My eyes had gone from brown to blue. But not a bland type of blue. It was a solid, sky blue color. Peculiar.

At dinner that night, I couldn't really eat. My mind was racing with all these thoughts on the Roth's incident. Why _did _that happen?

Mom easily noticed my lack of eating. "Hey, Ben. Are you alright?"

"What?" I was a little distracted by my own thinking. "Oh. Yeah, it's OK. Just thinking."

"What about?" She asked, concerned a bit.

"Not much." I lied. "Just the amount of money I got for us."

"Oh, OK." She replied. I usually don't lie to Mom, but I don't think I'd want her to know about the event at the store. Honestly, she probably wouldn't believe it, anyway. After we all finished eating, Mom stood up to announce something.

"Good news, everyone. Because of our sudden increase in money, courtesy of Ben, I have taken the time to pay off the rest of our house debt. And to celebrate, I also took the time to get something for Ben as a way of thanking him."

"For me?" I asked. This was unexpected.

"It's in your room." She hinted me.

I immediately got up and went to my room, with Mom and Steven following behind. At first, I didn't see anything new, but when I saw what the TV displayed on the screen, I couldn't believe my eyes.

"No way! A Wii U?" I exclaimed in amazement. The Wii console had been replaced with a black, deluxe edition Wii U. Included was a gamepad controller, an extra Mario-colored Wii Remote, and the game that was displayed on the screen: Mario Kart 8. Mom had gotten me a Mario Kart 8 Wii U Bundle!

"That's so awesome! Thanks, Mom!"

"Yes! We have Mario Kart 8!" Steven shared his excitement, too.

"You'll be able to play it tomorrow, Steven." Mom told him. "But for now, why don't we let Ben play it on his own for now? It _is_ his game. Besides, you were on Mario Kart Wii almost all day."

"Oh, OK." Steven expressed in slight disappointment. "Well, I guess you're right. I can't wait to play it tomorrow, though."

"Oh, don't worry, Steven. Tomorrow, I'll give you a Multiplayer match that you won't forget, I promise you that!" I jokingly alerted him.

So, for the rest of the day, I tried out this new game, and loved every second of it. It was just as amazing as IGN said it was. The controls were simple and easy, the graphics and details were _fantastic_, and the gameplay was a lot easier than the original Wii version. Although I was usually an automatic drifter in the Wii game, I knew perfectly well how to drift manually. Just not expertly. But before I knew it, I had conquered the expertise in manual drifting almost effortlessly.

The kart customizations in the game were great, but I always did Mario and the standard kart. Just the character I always played as. Besides, I personally think the standard karts are awesome, especially with the new anti-gravity feature. Racing upside-down and on the walls when I didn't even know it was always satisfying. Everything about the game was just amazing!

Playing the game reminded me of the times I had when I was younger. I always had a tendency to play with Steven, but that was at least a year ago. I guess I really _was _maturing. Then again, even a guy like me needs some good leisure time. By the time I was ready to go to bed, I had unlocked everything in the 50cc speed level!

* * *

Afterwards, we all got into bed, said our prayers, and let slumber consume us, as always. Well, everyone except me. I just lay there, and thought back on the day I had just lived through.

So, I became the Captain of the Military Command Fleet, pilot of the only T-500 SpaceCar in the world, saved my family from eviction, saved my sister from Jonathon and his thugs in an incredibly unexpected way, and got a Wii U all in one day. It was definitely a day of triumph, but it was also a day of confusion.

It's strange, really. How is it that a 15-year old kid with no specific trait, other than a bit of autism, was able to accomplish so much? Why did my Aviator pin start glowing down at the store? Why are my eyes blue now? Why am I reliving moments of my past? Why am I not undergoing puberty like I should be at this age? And to top it off, why _exactly_ are Mom and Dad divorcing? There were so many questions that were just waiting to be answered. And yet, it seemed that most of these questions _couldn't _be.

True, I was grateful for my triumphs and gifts, but I feel like there's more. Not that I'm greedy, but from what happened down at Roth's, I have a feeling it's not over yet. It's almost like there's something about me that needs to be discovered. But, what? Is there some kind of _power_ inside me waiting to be unlocked? Then again, how would _that _make any sense?

I looked out the window, and stared at the full moon for a bit while pondering about these issues. As I began to slowly drift away, I thought of something: Was I _destined _to do all this? To uncover some kind of secret about myself? I finally closed my eyes, and began to let my awareness fade out, with one last thought in my mind.

_Maybe that's for God to know..._


	3. The Guardian's Awakening: Part 1

**Note: It won't take a genius to realize who shot me down...**

Episode 3 - The Guardian's Awakening: Part 1

* * *

_But... Does this mean I won't be your student anymore?_

_Not in the same way as before. I'll still be here to help and guide you, but we're all your students now, too. You are an inspiration to us all, Twilight._

_But... What do I do now? Is there a book about being a princess I should read?_

_There will be time for all that later..._

* * *

I woke up with sudden confusion. What the...? That didn't look _anything _like my past! Were those... horses?! What the heck was _that _all about? And why did that feel... familiar? That doesn't even make any sense! Man, it's like God's trying to drive me insane with all these visions. Then again, it might not be Him causing them. Maybe I'm just delusional. Oh, well. At least it's over.

I got up and turned around to find myself staring at something that I probably should have seen coming. Steven was holding a Wii remote, the TV was on, showing Mario Kart 8, and he seemed to be waiting for me to get up. Not much of a surprise, though. I _did _promise him a Multiplayer match, and that's what you'd expect from a kid that loves the Mario Kart series.

"You ready for Multiplayer, Ben?" He asked me, handing me a Wii remote.

I shot back a smile and grabbed the remote, forgetting about the weird dream I just had. "Game on!"

So, for the next hour, we played Mario Kart 8 against each other, and I gotta say, he was _really _good at it. It was like he had been secretly practicing it overnight. Then again, I did teach him how to play Mario Kart Wii, and the controls weren't that different. Well, either way, he aced the gameplay.

Eventually, we had played 4 VS races, and beat each other in 2 each. We decided to play a 5th race to determine "Today's Champion". But before we could start, I suddenly heard a beeping coming from my right arm. My wrist watch from the General.

"Uh, hold on, Steven." I immediately pressed the Response button, and heard the General's voice calling me. And to think that he said he _wouldn't _contact me daily.

"You there, soldier?" I heard him ask.

"Loud and clear, sir." I replied. "What do you got for me?"

"Your first assignment from NASA. And it's a big one!" There seemed to be some excitement in his voice.

"Just tell me where to go, and I'll be on my way!"

"Type 3.475 in your ship's coordinate database." He ordered me. "You'll know the place."

"Roger that!" I closed the transmission, and turned toward my brother. "Sorry, Steven. I gotta go. We can finish our game later, OK?"

"OK." He didn't really seem bothered. He just resorted to Single Player mode. Meanwhile, I put on my shoes and hoodie again, grabbed my pilot license card, and left the room, heading towards the kitchen. Passing through the living room, I took a glance at the clock on the wall. 10:37. Whoa. Talk about late-rising. Then again, I _was _playing Mario Kart 8 with Steven for about an hour.

I grabbed an apple, left the kitchen, and quickly made it to the front door, but before I could leave, I heard Tom call my name from behind me.

"Hey, Ben. Where are you going?"

"I've got work to do." I replied. "Since I'm Captain of the Military Command Fleet, I gotta take on assigned missions."

"What, like a job?" He questioned me.

"Well, actually, I don't even know if I'm getting paid." I admitted. "But it _is _supporting the Government." I joked.

"Well, if you say so. Be careful out there, alright?" He warned me.

"Will do." I acknowledged him. "Oh, make sure you tell Mom that I'm in New York, OK?"

"Got it. Good luck!"

With that, I exited my house again, and opened up my ship's cockpit again. After putting my card away, I jumped in, and turned on the computer system. Let's see. Coordinate database... Ah, there it is. While taking bites out of my apple, I pressed an orange button on the screen, where it revealed my current whereabouts.

**Galaxy: Milky Way  
Nearest Star: Solar System  
Coordinates: 2.847  
Dimension: 3**

OK. What was I supposed to type in again? Oh, yeah. So I typed in **3.475, **and a GPS system opened up. A green dot on the map screen indicated my current position, and a red dot represented the coordinates I had typed in. It was definitely in New York. But it's not the Heroes Academy building. I wonder what that is? Well, only one way to find out!

After throwing my apple core into the trash can in front of my ship, I closed the cockpit, pressed the Launch button, and my ship lifted in the air. As soon as I knew I was high enough, I hit the gas pedal, and immediately blasted forward. There was nothing like flying through the air in a ship as awesome as this. I looked down at the ground below. It seemed to be flying itself. It just passed by so fast. I've probably broken the sound barrier already.

**BOOM!**

Well, _now _I broke it.

* * *

By the time I was in range of the GPS coordinates, I had been brought to Liberty Island. I even saw the Statue of Liberty up close! I could only imagine the attention I was attracting with my ship. When I had finally made it to the given coordinates, I realized that they had led me to a large building. The NASA Space Equipment Department. The General was right. I _did _know this place. He told me about it sometime during my training.

I figured I could park on the side of the street again, but before I could lower my ship, I spotted something else from of the corner of my eye. There was a large platform sticking out the side of the building, at the top floor. The General, still in his uniform, was on it, waving to me. I saw the number 35 written in yellow on the platform. It was a landing pad reserved for me! Well, how about that! I guess I was considered a celebrity here.

So, I landed my ship on the pad, and walked up to the General, who saluted me. "Good to see you again, Captain."

I put my index and middle finger to my forehead, returning the salute. "Same here, General. So, what kind of assignment do you have for me?"

He led me to the door, and inside the building. "Well, I _did _say I wouldn't call you every day." I looked around at the large, museum-like room, and my mouth was left agape in amazement. "But the boys here at the Equipment Department found something that you might find interesting."

The building looked amazing. There was a large domed roof made of glass. It let in light that revealed a large, 3D scale of an atom in the center, several large, advanced machines on display, and a bunch of other stuff, too!

"Whoa! We really _are _in the 21st Century!" I said in awe.

"Come on!" The General motioned me. "They're in here." He led me through a long, white hallway to the left, and stopped at a certain door. He knocked on it while I looked at the door's number: **436**. Where does _this _lead to? A click in the doorknob allowed the general to open it, and both of us walked into a room with 6 scientists, a projector screen at the front, and a projector machine in the middle of the room.

"Oh, good. You're here." One scientist with glasses and black hair came up to us and shook our hands. "Welcome to the NASA Space Equipment Department. My name is Jacob Williard. I'm one of the scientists here."

"Not hard to tell with the lab coat." I jokingly remarked. "But it's a pleasure to be here."

"Glad to hear that." Jacob said. "So, you're the member of the Academy that stopped those terrorists?"

"In the flesh, bone, and blood." I assured him with a bit of confidence.

"He may be young, but his training ranks are literally off the charts!" The General pointed out. "His piloting is what _really _exceeds."

"Hm." I could tell Jacob was impressed by this. "Well, in that case, you should be perfectly capable of this mission." He turned to the scientist managing the projector machine. "Carl. If you will."

The scientist powered up the machine while Jacob dimmed the lights. At first, the front screen revealed a "Stand by" signal, but quickly changed to a slide, revealing a picture of some kind of blue portal in space.

"Hm. Where's the orange portal?" I jokingly commented.

"Recently, our crew launched a satellite into space to gain pictures and footage of any kinds of space debris. Instead, we came across _this_." Jacob explained. "This is a wormhole that has recently opened up just outside our Solar System. But this is no ordinary wormhole. According to its data, this one shows no signs of danger, and does not affect human tissue in any way. It is perfectly safe to travel through with the right transportation."

The lights came back on as the machine was turned off. "And that's where _you_ come in." The General directed towards me. "Since you've been given your own ship, you will be assigned to travel through this portal, scan its whereabouts, and report back to us on where it leads."

"Wow." I thought out loud. "This_ is _big_._"

"Our thoughts exactly." Jacob told me. "This is an extraordinary find. This wormhole could lead to anywhere in the universe. It could lead to another galaxy. It could even lead to another planet that could sustain life!"

"So!" The General chimed in again. "Are you willing to take on this task?"

"Are you kidding?" I exclaimed. "What makes you think I _wouldn't_? This could change history as we know it! Count me in!"

The scientists cheered as the General smiled with satisfaction. "In that case, let's get you ready."

* * *

Later, I was in my ship again with the engines firing up, and the crew was ready to "see me off".

"OK! All systems go!" I assured them over the engines' noises. "So, I won't need to worry about oxygen?"

"No need." Jacob assured me. "That ship can convert carbon dioxide back to oxygen. I should know. I designed that thing."

"Good luck, Captain!" The General called to me. "And see to it that this leap for Mankind isn't the last step for you!"

"Roger that!" Once again, I saluted him with double fingers, then closed the cockpit, and took off into the outer reaches of space.

It was like nothing I had ever seen before! Space turned out to be cooler than I thought. It was like a dark blue field that expanded as far as the eye could see. And gleaming stars for detail. I rotated the ship around to take another look at Earth. Wow. Just as beautiful from up here. Then again, when you're in space, there isn't really an up _or_ down. Anyway, where's that wormhole?

I began rotating the ship to see if I could find it from here. I quickly caught sight of a blue glow. Definitely not a star. I had to pass by Saturn and Neptune before I could get a closer look at the intergalactic gateway. Its black, tunnel-like center seemed to be inviting me in. It turned to be more harmless than I thought. Pluto was right next to the wormhole, but wasn't getting sucked in. Must have a weak gravitational pull or something.

I took a look at my coordinates again. **69.25703**. I took out a notepad, and wrote it down, just in case. OK. Here we go. Time to see where this thing takes us! I immediately pushed the gas pedal, boosting forward, and flying straight into the portal. The second I was in all the way, its gravitational pull kicked in, causing my ship to accelerate to a velocity I had _never _experienced.

It felt like I was in a tunnel of never-ending speed! And I loved every second of it! The adrenaline felt amazing! It only lasted for 12 seconds, but it felt like it would last twice as long! Before I even knew it, I came flying out the other side of the wormhole, spinning. When it finally stopped, I held my head, trying to maintain consciousness after the massive joyride. "Whoa. Now _that _is something I'm gonna look forward to later!"

Now on the other side of the wormhole, I took a good look at my new surroundings, and saw a familiar, ringed planet. Wait a minute. That's Saturn! I looked my coordinates. **69.25703**. What? I was just there! Hm. This doesn't make any sense. How could a wormhole send me in a circle? Seems a bit illogical. Wait... I wonder... I decided to take a look at the full coordinate database. This is what I found...

**Galaxy: Milky Way  
Nearest Star: Solar System  
Coordinates: 69.25703  
Dimension: 14**

Wait a minute. _What?! _I'm in another dimension?! Oh my gosh! I've discovered an alternate universe! This is _amazing_! The scientists are gonna _love _this! I gotta start research immediately. Suddenly, I caught sight of Earth in the distance. I think I've got an idea. I hit the gas pedal again, and made my way towards the "Alternate Earth". I scanned the planet, and came up with the same kind of data from Dimension 3's Earth.

It said there was life and civilization there. The only difference was the continents. They weren't shaped like the ones back home. Hm. Peculiar. Then again, every alternate world's gotta have some kind of slight difference. It's the science behind the rift of multiple dimensions. Well, according to theoretical terms. Anyway, let's see what this world's like.

Arriving in the planet's atmosphere and descending through the clouds, I thought about what this civilization was like. Would it have advanced technology? Would there be an alternate version of people I know? Maybe an alternate version of myself? Well, either way, this is _definitely _gonna be interesting.

Where could I find a place to land? Come to think of it, why am I trying to land when I can't even see anything? These clouds are all over the place! So, I set up the weaponry systems, and pressed both Fire buttons on the steering wheel, and the front gun cannons created a heat-activated wind that blew the clouds out of sight. There, that's better! But before I could look towards the ground below, something happened that I _really _didn't expect!

Almost immediately, something huge landed on my ship's cockpit, startling me completely. Some kind of... winged horse?!

"**_WHAT THE HECK_****?!**"

It was pure black, and it looked _disgusting_! Its translucent wings looked ripped and bug-like, it was incredibly thin, its hooves had multiple holes in it, and it seemed to have something shining on its head. It was some kind of horse-like insect! I could only stare at the unusual creature, while its emerald green eyes stared back at me, just as shocked as I was.

Managing to come to my senses a bit, I did what I could to get it out of the way. "_Hey! Get outta here! Shoo!_" But it didn't move.

Instead, it shot a look of fury at me, and did something incredibly unusual. Some kind of damaged horn on its head started glowing green, and the next thing I knew, a beam of the same colored light shot out of its horn, blasting my ship, and causing the one thing that I never thought would happen: My ship caught fire, and began falling apart!

At that point, the creature flew away, and I was left to witness the destruction of my vehicle. I began descending at a faster speed, but not a good kind. If my ship did a nosedive straight towards the ground in this condition... Oh, snap!

I immediately grabbed the steering wheel, and struggled to gain control of the plummeting ship, but it was no use. "_Come on! Pull up! Pull up! __**Please pull up!**_" Suddenly, the steering wheel exploded off its socket, and I had no control whatsoever over the dying vessel. "_This- This can't be happening!_"

I had no idea where I was gonna be crash-landing, since all I could see was fire. But I knew it was probably gonna be messy. I suddenly became light-headed, as the surrounding heat and smoke in my lungs caused me to quickly fade away. I didn't even have the time to try to bail out.

In just 3 seconds, everything had gone black, and I had lost consciousness altogether...

* * *

My eyes began opening a bit. My head was throbbing painfully, and I felt like I had been through a round of torture. I felt sore all over, but I suddenly saw a faint, pinkish glow envelope me, and the pain had completely left me. Well, except for the head throbbing. I couldn't even see properly. Everything was just a blur. I couldn't make _anything_ out with my dazed vision. And to top it all off, I felt like I was in some kind of bed.

I managed to push myself up a bit as I held my head in pain. "Ugh..."

Unexpectedly, I heard a soft voice. A voice belonging to a young female, from the sound of it. "Be careful. You might not wanna move around too much. Are you OK?"

"Ugh... I can't see a thing..." I groggily responded to the anonymous voice, still unable to see anything properly. "What happened?"

"I don't know." The voice responded. "But I _do _know that you're gonna be fine. You had taken quite the beating, but we've managed to restore your health. You're in good condition now. And don't worry about your eyesight. It'll return in time."

My head finally stopped throbbing, and I managed to get up, and eventually sit up on the side of the bed I was in. Even my eyesight was beginning to restore itself a bit. "Uh... Thanks... I guess." I said, still with a bit of fatigue. "But... Who are you?" I looked up once my eyesight had cleared up, only to find that I was face to face with a... a purple horse?!

"My name is Tw-" It could _talk?! _I widened my eyes, and the rest of my shock immediately kicked in. "**_HOLY SEA-BISCUIT!_**" I screamed in panic as I began randomly scooting backwards until I fell off the other side of the bed.

"Um... Are you alright?" I heard the horse ask me.

I immediately got up on my feet, completely confused. "OK. This _definitely _isn't right!" I exclaimed, backing further away from the horse and the bed. "Where the heck am I?!" I suddenly noticed something about my hands. They were... different. They seemed to have changed their appearance in an unusual way. "And... Why do I look slightly animated?" I asked calmly, but awkwardly. Maybe it was an automatic effect from being in a new dimension.

"It's OK." The horse assured me. Why the heck was she _purple_? "You're gonna be fine. You just have a few scars." I didn't even have the words to react. Why was I in a bedroom with a talking horse? And why did she have wings and a horn? Does that make her a unicorn or something? And... Why does she seem... familiar, of all things? Wait a minute... I saw her in my dream the other night!

"Hey..." I said, coming to my senses a bit. "I've seen you before! What the heck are you?"

"What?" She tilted her head a bit, confused. "You've seen me somewhere? Oh, does that mean you're from here?"

"Well..." I rubbed the back of my head, still feeling a bit awkward. "I don't think a world with... talking, winged unicorns is a place I'd call home." Honestly, I felt a bit uncomfortable talking to something that wasn't even a human.

"I take it you haven't met Alicorns before." She reacted calmly. "Well, I don't blame you. Alicorns aren't exactly common in Equestria."

"In _what_?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "'Equestria'?"

"Yes. This is our homeland." She replied. "But from the looks of it, this probably isn't your home. How exactly did you get here?"

"Well, let's just say that multi-dimensional travel was recently discovered." I explained. I began feeling a bit more comfortable talking to her, but I was still a bit confused.

The, um... "Alicorn" suddenly gasped in amazement. "Multi-dimensional travel is possible?!" She suddenly began jumping around in joy while I could only stare at her with my eyebrow raised again.

"Ooookaaay..."

"Ha ha, this is amazing!" She screamed in delight. "First time travel, and now the ability to discover new dimensions? This is fantastic!" She suddenly ran up to me in excitement. Apparently, she was my exact height, so I assumed she was the same age as me, too. "What kind of magic do you use for that? Oh, do you create some kind of portal?"

"Magic? What are you talking about?" I suddenly realized something, and perked up. "Of course! The rift between worlds!" This must have be the major difference between this dimension and mine. A different dominant race! "Wait. What was that about magic again?"

But before she could respond, a large door nearby opened, revealing another Alicorn. This one was a bit different, though. It was taller, white, and had a crown on its head. She seemed older than the purple one. Wait a minute. I saw this one in my dream, too!

"Oh, you're awake. Are you alright?" She responded. So, she was also feminine.

"He's fine, Celestia." The younger one responded. Celestia? Was that her name? "Just a few minor wounds."

"Minor wounds?" I asked. "Where?"

Then, she did something a bit unexpected. Her horn started glowing, and she seemed to be "picking up" a small, hand-held mirror with a pinkish telekinesis-like glow. Next thing I knew, there was a mirror right in front of me, revealing a large, red scar above my nose. But at that moment, I was focused on why the mirror was floating.

My mouth just dropped in shock. "How the...? How are you doing that?!"

"It's magic." She replied. "A common thing here."

"Well... OK." I took the mirror out of the air and got a better look at myself. Aside from the cut in between my eyes, there were a couple of burns on my face as well.

"I was on fire?" I questioned.

"Well, a bit." She returned. "But nothing severe."

"If I was burnt, wouldn't I be experiencing any pain right now?"

"Not when pain-killer spells exist." She replied with a smile on her face.

"You were lucky we managed to get you away from that wreckage. We don't know how, but you ended up coming through the roof of the throne room." The white one told me.

"Throne room? Oh! Is this a castle?" I asked.

"This is just one of the bedrooms. You're in the Canterlot Castle." The younger Alicorn informed me.

"Canterlot?" Again with the eyebrow-raising. "OK, I'm having trouble processing this. So, I'm in a world where horses can talk and use magic?"

"Well, technically, we're ponies." She corrected. "Not everypony here can use magic, though. Only unicorns and Ali-"

I cut her off. "Wait a minute, wait a minute. 'Everypony'? What kind of grammar is that?"

"Well, sometimes we use the term, 'everyone', if that's what you're familiar with." She assured me. "But that's not important. We need to know how you came here."

"Can you remember anything?" The white one asked me.

"Well, now that I think about it... Yes. And it wasn't pretty." I thought back on the incident. "I was piloting this spacecraft I had, attempting to explore this place. But before I could try and land, this... black 'Alicorn' landed on my ship, and fired this... green beam of magic from her horn. Next thing I knew, I was falling from the sky at high speed, and before I even hit anything, I was out cold."

I noticed that both Alicorns suddenly developed looks of worry on their faces. "Wait. _Black _Alico-" The younger Alicorn attempted to question me.

But I cut her off, remembering something. "Hold on. Where's my ship?"

They both just looked at each other, then back to me. "Well, we can take you to the throne room, where you landed." The white Alicorn told me.

"Hm." I thought for a minute. "Well, I guess it's better than nothing. Lead the way."

* * *

Later, I was walking through a large hallway with them, and I saw all these stained glass windows on the walls. They seemed a bit... peculiar. It was like they all represented something. One portrayed 6 "ponies" (One of them looking a bit like the younger Alicorn, but without wings) attacking this large, dark blue Alicorn that seemed to be armored. Another one was a bit similar, but the same 6 characters were attacking some kind of goat-like dragon creature instead.

But there was one that _really _caught my eye. It portrayed the younger Alicorn wearing some kind of crown. I actually stopped, and began moving towards the window to get a closer look.

The Alicorns noticed, and followed behind me. "Is that you?" I asked the younger one.

"Yep. It's for the day I became a princess. There was actually a coronation held for me yesterday to celebrate." She replied.

"Wait. You _became _a princess?" I asked, turning towards her. "But if you're part of the royal family, wouldn't you already be one?"

"Actually, she managed to do something nopony else could do." The older Alicorn told me. Grammar... "She succeeded in fixing an age-old spell that had never been completed. She also possessed the proper leadership and magic to become Equestria's newest princess."

"Newest? You mean there's more than one?" I asked in confusion.

"Yep!" The younger one told me. "There's my former teacher, Princess Celestia..." She directed towards the older one. Oh. So that _was _her name. "...there's her sister, Princess Luna, there's Princess Cadence at the Crystal Empire, and then there's me."

"Huh. I thought there was a usually king, queen, and a prince or princess in a medieval kingdom." I said, intrigued by this information.

"Medieval?" The younger one asked.

"It's another term for the Middle Ages." I clarified. "The Human race lived through several historic eras."

"The Human race?" She asked again. "Human... Oh, is that what you are? A human?"

"Yep. Probably haven't told you, but my name's Benjamin Cooney. Everyone always calls me Ben, though." I looked back at the glass window, and released a heavy sigh. "And I'm a long way from home. And yet, at the same time, I'm _not._ This is the same planet I was born on. Except that it's a parallel version, inhabited with creatures that I never knew existed until now. You may not realize it, but I've made a discovery that'll change human history as we know it."

"What kind of discovery?" She questioned. "Oh! Multi-dimensional travel?"

"Yeah. Scientists assigned me to explore the whereabouts of a wormhole in space, and I discovered _this_ world. _Your _world. If I can report back to them, and tell them that I found a parallel universe, this could possibly change our way of life! We might even be able to find another planet that sustains living organisms, like this one! All I need now is my way of getting back."

"Well... We don't know if you'll be able to get back to your world just yet." She told me.

"How so?"

"You're probably gonna wanna follow us." She motioned for me to follow them again.

"I don't like the sound of that." I muttered to myself as I resumed walking with them to the throne room.

* * *

When they opened the doors to the throne room, I instantly realized that something wasn't right. I saw a large, burnt pile of metal, and a huge hole in the roof. Almost immediately, my mouth dropped in shock. "My ship!" I ran over to the pile of metal, and kneeled down. "Nonononono, I can't be seeing this. It _never _fails! What am I gonna do?"

I suddenly remembered something. "Wait." I began pushing aside the scraps of metal, trying to see if my repair kit was still there. Maybe it survived the crash. I searched everywhere in the pile, but in the end, I came up with nothing. Maybe it fell out during the fall.

"Oh, this is just great." I said with slight annoyance. "Stranded in an alternate dimension with my only means of getting home in pieces, and my repair kit is missing." I put my hand to my chin. "This is gonna be a problem."

The younger Alicorn walked up to me. "Um, question: What was it that shot you down again?"

I turned to her. "A black Alicorn. Why?"

"Can you give better description?" She asked.

"Well... It was about as tall as her," I pointed towards Celestia. "Its hooves looked like they had been hole-punched, its wings were translucent, and there was something shining on its head. A crown, I think."

Hearing this, she put her hoof to her face, and began shaking her head. "Oh, this is bad. This is _very _bad."

"What, the Alicorn?" I questioned.

"That wasn't an Alicorn that attacked you, Ben. That was the Changeling Queen, Queen Chrysalis!" She told me with worry. "If she's here, then we're all in big trouble!"

"Changeling Queen? What?" I asked.

"She's a creature that takes the form of somepony you love, and gains strength by feeding off that love. She could gain enough strength to beat even Celestia!" She directed toward her. "She has an army of changelings at her side as well. We've fought them before, but if they're coming here again..."

"I'll alert the castle guard!" Celestia told us. "Twilight, make sure you get the Elements of Harmony!" She immediately left the room. Twilight? Was that_ her_ name?

"Wait a minute..." I started processing this information. "If I disturbed a changeling queen..." I suddenly widened my eyes in shock. "Oh, no! _I _caused this!"

"What do you mean?" The younger Alicorn asked me.

"It's like a swarm of bees or hornets." I explained. "You provoke one, he calls the rest of the hive. And from what I've witnessed, it seems like I've ticked off one heck of a hornet!" I began pacing, panicking a bit. "Oh, this is bad. Not only am I stranded in a parallel version of my home planet with no way of getting home, I've caused the destruction of its population! Talk about an epic fail..." I could only hang my head and put my hand to my face. "What have I done?"

I heard the Alicorn walk up from behind me. She then put her hoof on my shoulder, forcing me to look behind my back at her. "It's not your fault, Ben. Chrysalis would probably attack us whether you found her in the sky or not. Actually, it's kind of a good thing that you found her up there. If you hadn't, we wouldn't have known. They'd be able to take us by surprise."

I shook her hoof off, and turned to her. "How is causing the death of everything on this planet a _good _thing?! Do you know what I do for a living? I train myself to save lives! Killing someone is the last thing I expected to do! But killing the population of an entire planet?" I just turned around, stewing in my own guilt. "And I have no way to prevent it. I can't believe I've done this..."

I just closed my eyes in defeat. What am I gonna do? I can't possibly fight the changelings with my fists. They're armed with magic! Who knows what they would do to me? What I wouldn't give for a weapon right now. Suddenly, I opened my eyes again, remembering something. I thought back on that Harry Potter quote I read yesterday. "Wait..." I suddenly perked up again. "I think I've got an idea!"

"What?" The Alicorn asked me.

"There's this fantasy book I've read about a certain magic. If I could make myself a wand, I might be able to fight the changelings!"

"A wand?" She questioned.

"A weapon that's capable of using magic. It's basically a carved stick with the DNA sample of a magical creature sealed inside it." I explained. "Like a unicorn's tail hair or something. If I could make one of those, I might be able to help you fight the changeling invasion!"

She put a hoof to her chin and thought about it. "Well... It doesn't sound very logical. From what I know, you'd have to be _born _with magic to be able to use it. Besides, using magic usually requires training. But we don't have time for that. Right now, we gotta make sure you're safe from any harm. We need to take you to the Golden Oak Library in Ponyville, and get the Elements of Harmony. Come on! We gotta find the others!"

She immediately ran out the door, and through the hallway, expecting me to be behind her. I thought about this real quick. OK, obviously she doesn't approve of me trying to wield magic. So much for that. But what did she mean by "the others"? Is there a crew she has? And what are "Elements of Harmony"? Great. Even more questions that need answering.

"I _really_ don't like where this is going..." Was the last thing I said before I took off after her.

* * *

_To be continued..._


	4. The Guardian's Awakening: Part 2

**Note: I see I'm getting some followers. Those of you that want to ask me questions, Email me, or make a FanFiction message. You could also contact me from Facebook. I can answer anything that isn't a spoiler. That being said, enjoy...**

Episode 4 - The Guardian's Awakening: Part 2

* * *

"I _really_ don't like where this is going..."

I immediately took off after the Alicorn, hoping to gather more information about this place, and the mess I caused. Obviously, attempting to create a source of magic was out of question. But I had to help them prevent the invasion _somehow_. If I can save the President without getting shot, then I'm pretty sure I can take care of a bunch of love-eating wasps. Besides, if I'm the one that caused this, then I gotta do what I can to redeem myself.

I quickly managed to catch up with her, where she led me out of the castle, and started looking around.

"So, Twilight? Is that your name?" I began asking her while trying to maintain my breath.

"Yes. My name's Twilight Sparkle." She responded. "Anyway, what is it?"

"2 questions: Where are we going, and what exactly did you mean by 'the others'?"

"You'll see." She then continued to look around, until she caught sight of a tall tower with a yellow roof. "There it is! Come on!"

Without hesitation, Twilight bolted towards the tower, prompting me to follow. We went up several flights of stairs before we made it to a door near the top. By that time, I was practically ready to fall over. Turned out to be higher than I thought.

I put my hand on the wall, completely exhausted. "This is why I usually prefer elevators." I said to myself.

"What?" Twilight asked.

"Nothing." I quickly responded.

She turned towards the door, and I watched as her horn started glowing again. She used her magic on the door, opening it with ease. We walked into the tower, where it was revealed to be a large library. And I mean _large_! The bookcases towered as high as a 2-story house! You could only imagine the amount of books on the shelves.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed. "I've seen 3-story libraries with fewer books than this place!"

Twilight walked past me, and up a small flight of stairs, with me behind her. She led me to a nearby balcony outside. There, I saw another creature that I didn't recognize back home: A small, purplish reptile with green scales. He didn't seem to notice us, since he had his back turned.

"A dragon?" I guessed.

Twilight nodded. "His name is Spike."

The dragon turned toward us. "Oh, Twilight! You're back! I gotta tell you someth-" He suddenly noticed me, and widened his eyes in shock. I suspected as much.

"Um... Twilight? What in Equestria is-" He started reacting, but I cut him off.

"I'm from another universe, I crash-landed here, and there's a horde of angry changelings on the way because of me. End of story."

"_What_?!" He exclaimed in panic. "The changelings are back?!"

"Spike, listen!" Twilight directed. "We need to find the others and get the Elements of Harmony! Do you know where they are?"

"Well..." Spike thought, still a bit confused about my appearance. "They said they were going to the donut shop, but I don't know when they're coming back."

Suddenly, we heard the door open from behind us, and several voices followed.

"I take it that's them..." I commented.

We all turned to see 5 horses walk in with a donut box, giving me time to get a quick look at them. The first one was orange, wearing a cowboy hat, and a bit of freckles on her face. She didn't have a horn, or a pair of wings. The second was winged and flying, light blue, and wearing a rainbow-colored mane and tail. A pegasus, I think. Number 3 was horned and white, with a purple mane and tail. The 4th one was blonde-colored, pink-haired, and winged. And the last one was pink all over, with its hair all poofed up. I don't know why, but I could somehow tell they were all females. Hold on... They were in my dream, too!

"Hey, Spike! Is Twilight back yet?" The orange one called out.

The second they all came up to the balcony and saw me, their jaws dropped, and their eyes widened in surprise. Ugh. Here we go...

"What the hay is _that_?!" The orange one exclaimed. But before I could explain my presence, the rainbow-maned pegasus suddenly shot me an aggressive look, flew right at me, and immediately pinned me to the ground!

"Whoa! What the-" I cried out in shock. OK, that was _not_ the kind of reaction I expected.

"_What's your game here, double-legs_?!" She interrogated me severely. And believe me, she was good at it.

"Rainbow Dash! Get off of him!" Twilight directed at her.

"Whoa, calm down! I'm on your side!" I yelled in a bit of panic.

**"****_Answer the question!_****" **She demanded, raising a hoof for attack.

Before she could throw a punch, she was covered in Twilight's magic glow, and pulled away from me. "Rainbow, stop it!" She scolded. Meanwhile, I got up and brushed myself off. I was both confused and irritated by what she just did.

"What was _that _for?" I said to the pegasus. "Are you trying to _kill_ me? Geez, there's no point in getting violent."

"It's alright, girls." Twilight assured them. "He's just new here."

They all took another glance at me. "He's funny-looking!" The pink one giggled a bit.

"Ben, meet Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy!" Twilight introduced them to me. Based on their appearances, I could easily tell which was which. Next thing I knew, they were all surrounding me, and taking a better look at me.

"What do you suppose he is?" I heard Fluttershy ask.

"Well, he obviously ain't from _here_." Applejack replied.

"Look. There's gold on his chest." Pinkie pointed out. I could easily tell she was referring to my pin.

I calmly pushed them away. "OK, OK. I get it. You're intrigued by my presence. But there's no need to crowd me. I'm just new here."

"Our apologies." I heard Rarity from behind me, and turned towards her. "But we'd all very much like to know what you are."

But I was still focused on what had happened earlier. "Well, I have the same feeling towards you guys. But I'm afraid it'll have to wait. Right now, we gotta fix a mess that I created."

"Ben, I told you. It's not your fault." Twilight attempted to assure me.

I turned to her. "Twilight, just because you _say_ I didn't accidentally cause a changeling invasion doesn't mean it's true."

"Wait." Rainbow Dash said. "You caused _what_?"

"It's not what you think, OK?" I told them as they all eyed me in confusion. "I can explain everything later. Right now, we gotta get these... um..." I turned to Twilight again. "What did you call them? 'Elements of Harmony'?"

"Exactly." Twilight answered. "Now come on. We need to get to Ponyville."

Without delay, but with some confusion, they all followed Twilight out the door, and I trailed behind, with Spike in tow.

"And to think that this was supposed to be a simple visit to Canterlot." I heard him say.

* * *

Later, we were all on a train to Ponyville, and I was explaining why I was here, and what I had done.

"I know it sounds confusing, but I swear, I never meant harm to this world, OK? It was meant to be some scientific research." I finished.

"Ah, the joys of research." I heard Twilight add.

"So, let me get this straight." Rainbow Dash attempted to clarify. "You're from another dimension, you crashed a flying vehicle through the Canterlot castle roof, and because of that, there are changelings on the way here?"

"That about sums it up." I replied. "And believe me, you have _no _idea how stupid I feel right now."

"You should think about how stupid _I _feel after pinning you down without warning." Rainbow said to me, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof. "Sorry about that, by the way. I have a tendency to jump at things without thinking."

"No need to apologize, Rainbow." I told her. "I think I've been through worse than getting pinned down by a pegasus, anyway."

"Hold on." Spike said. "Were you that giant ball of fire that I saw falling from the sky?"

"You saw a _what_, Spike?" Twilight asked him.

"Sometime after you guys left the library, I was watching the town from the balcony, when I saw a large fireball plummeting towards the castle." He explained.

"Yeah, apparently the Changeling Queen set fire to my ship with her magic. And believe me, when I get my hands on a decent weapon, I'm returning the favor!" I assured them, slamming my fist into my open hand.

"Ben..." Twilight came up to me. "I know you're eager to help us fight these things, but we can easily take care of them with the Elements of Harmony. Besides, you're new here. I don't wanna see you put yourself in danger."

"Except that I've already put myself in danger a good 50 times just to save my family from eviction." I told them, a bit irritated.

"Eviction?" She questioned.

"I've trained at an academy for 5 months to get money for a house debt that we had to pay off. But I didn't just save my family from living on the streets. I basically became a member of an army. I'm the Captain of the Military Command Fleet back home! And this pin on my chest represents that. You may not know what that is, but _I_ know it's a position that proves that I can fight just about _anything_! And I'm pretty sure a bunch of love-devouring parasites counts! Besides, if I caused this, then I _have _to fight them. _I_ made this mess, _I_ have to clean it up, OK?"

After that outburst, they could only stare at me without a word. I released a heavy sigh. "I'm... I'm sorry. I'm just guilt-ridden from all this, I guess. I... I need to think."

I went into an empty passenger car, away from them. I wasn't angry, but I _was_ a bit frustrated. Why is she so persistent that I stay out of this? It's like she's deliberately rejecting my offer. I can help them. I _know _I can! I just need to find a way. But how? I don't have magic like them, my ship is down and out, and I don't even know much about this place. Maybe they don't trust me.

I sat down in a seat, trying to figure something out. Hmm. What could I do to gain their trust? Show them my strength, maybe? No, they'd probably think I was showing off. Still, I can't just sit back and do nothing. There's gotta be a solution to this. Come on, think! I can do this. I've been in situations like this before...

* * *

After 2 minutes of thinking, the car door opened. I looked to see Twilight coming in. "Hey, Ben. You OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said. "I'm just... well... worried for this place." She came up and sat to my left.

"You're really serious about this, aren't you?" She asked me.

"What makes you think I'm not?" I replied. "I have to do _something _to make up for this."

"Look. I can easily understand why you would want to help us. And I respect that. But we've fought changelings before, and we know what they're capable of. And believe me, they're more powerful than you think. Now I admit, the fact that you put yourself in danger for your family is amazing. But it's probably best that you let _us_ handle this one, just to be safe." She recommended.

"Well... I guess you're right." I began to agree. "This battle _might_ be a little much for a guy like me. But if you guys are gonna fight them, at least be careful."

"Don't worry." Twilight told me. "We've been in situations like this. We know what to do."

"I hope so." I replied.

"Hey, about our first conversation earlier..." She spoke up again. "You said you had seen me before somewhere. What did you mean by that?"

"Oh, yeah. That." I recalled. "Well, it's kinda weird, actually."

"I'm listening." She said.

"I saw you in a... a dream I had last night."

"A dream?"

"Yeah. I don't understand it, but your friends and Celestia were all bowing to you, saying that you were an... inspiration to them."

"What?" She asked in amazement.

"I know. I mean, how is it that I have a dream about you before I actually meet you here? It's like a message or some-"

She suddenly cut me off. "No, that's not what I meant. That doesn't sound like a dream. That sounds like the night I became a princess!"

"What?!" I asked, returning the shock. "I relived a moment of _your _past?!"

"Hmm. Hold on. Let me try something." She carefully put a hoof on my chest, closed her eyes, and began using her magic on me, creating a small, rope-like magical substance that connected us.

"Twilight? What are you doing?" I asked her, feeling a bit disturbed.

"Just hold still. I'm checking your memories." She told me, still keeping her eyes shut. I didn't know exactly what she was gonna do, but if she knew what she was doing, then I was willing to trust her. As the magic began to take effect, I felt a bit weird. It was like something had been drained out of me. And I quickly knew why. A small blue light had emerged from my chest, and seemed to transfer into hers. Was that my memory?

"Whoa..."

Suddenly, her eyes opened up. But they were glowing white! My eyes widened, and I ended up falling off my seat. She seemed to be in some kind of trance. The magic substance connecting us seemed to stay together, but it was shaking violently. I had no idea what was happening, but I was panicking really quickly. I don't think this is part of the spell.

**"TWILIGHT!" **I tried to get her attention, hoping she would snap out of it. Sure enough, the connection between us broke, the same blue light I had seen earlier flew back into my chest, and Twilight's eyes returned to normal. She blinked a few times, and saw me on the floor, shaking in fear. She seemed confused about something.

"Ben? What happened?"

"Your eyes just went white! What the heck was that all about?" I immediately asked, panting a bit.

"I... I don't know." She replied, putting a hoof to her horn. "That was supposed to be a regular memory spell."

"A memory spell?" I questioned, getting up on my feet.

"Well, all I meant to do was check if your dream was actually the same night I became a princess. But... I suddenly had no control over the spell. It just escalated into something incredible. I think I was experiencing multiple memories of your past. And they were happening all at once. But that spell effect isn't possible unless the memory bearer is capable of..." Her eyes suddenly widened in shock. "Magic."

This left me _completely _dumbstruck. I couldn't even reply to this.

"Oh my gosh." I heard Twilight whisper. "Um... I'll be right back. I need to think about this." With that, she went back into the same car with her friends, leaving me to process what had just happened.

Magic? How can I possess magic? I'm just a regular kid. The only real "powers" I have are my physical talents. But I don't... Wait a minute. What about that incident with Jonathon down at Roth's that made my eyes turn blue? Did _that _relate to this? Hmm. Unusual. Does that mean I _am _capable of magic? But how is that possible? What does it even mean? Maybe... I looked up. Not at anything particular. I just looked up, with one thought in my mind.

_What's God planning for me this time?_

* * *

Sometime later, the train stopped at a small, quiet town. As they put it, Ponyville. Looked peaceful enough. At least, for the moment. And they have no idea...

Anyway, we left the train, and made it into town, where Twilight put her plan to action.

"Rainbow Dash, spread the word to Ponyville, and tell them to take refuge in their homes. We'll head to the Library to get the Elements." She commanded.

"Got it!" Rainbow immediately took off, carrying out her order.

"The rest of you, come with me." So, we began following her, but she suddenly stopped and turned to me. "And Ben?"

"Yeah?" I awaited whatever command she had.

"When we get to the Library, make sure you stay there with Spike. And whatever you do, don't leave until this is over." I could tell she was serious, due to the look on her face.

"Roger that!" I assured her.

"Alright! Let's go!" We immediately began making our way to the Library, while I got a better look at the town. And I gotta say, it was really nice. Some regular houses, a few stores here and there. It looked as enjoyable as my home! Maybe I could learn to live here! Well, actually... Oh, never mind. As I continued observing the town, I suddenly remembered a question I forgot to ask Twilight.

"Hey, Twilight? There's something I've been meaning to ask you." I piped up.

"Yes?"

"What exactly _are _the Elements of Harmony?" I asked.

"Only the most powerful lines of defense in Equestria!" Applejack answered.

"Exactly!" Twilight replied. "There's a total of 6 Elements: Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, Honesty, Loyalty, and Magic. And we're their spirits!"

"Spirits?" I asked, still a bit confused.

"Simply put, we all represent a certain Element. I represent Magic, Pinkie represents Laughter, Fluttershy represents Kindness, Rarity represents Generosity, Rainbow Dash represents Loyalty, and Applejack represents Honesty. Together, those 6 Elements create a certain kind of magic: The Magic of Friendship." She explained.

This was getting a bit interesting. "Friendship is magic?" I questioned.

"Yep. And it exists all over Equestria." She said. "Not everypony knows about it, though."

"Hm." I expressed. "Well, if it's a kind of magic, then I think it _should _be known throughout this world. I personally think you guys are lucky, anyway."

"Really?" Twilight asked. "How so?"

"'How so?' You guys have magic in this universe. _Magic_! That's something I never knew existed. But now that I _do _know, I wanna know more about it. Maybe even obtain its qualities somehow." I admitted. "If I could do that, I'd be more than grateful. Besides, there's something that I haven't figured out yet back home."

"What's that?"

"Well... It happened yesterday, around 9:30 or so..." And I told them what had happened while we walked. From meeting up with Wesley, to my pin glowing like a lamp. The only thing I _didn't _mention was the conversation I had with Wesley about the... Well, you know.

"I don't know why, but that whole ordeal somehow changed my eye color to blue, like it is now." I finished. "But I don't think that's the only thing it did. I think it might have given me some kind of... power, or something. I can't make any sense of it, though."

"That sounds similar to the day I discovered my powers." Twilight told me.

"Your powers?" I asked.

"My magical abilities." She clarified. "I was a filly back then. There was this entrance exam I was trying to pass, and I ended up doing more than just passing. That was the day I became Celestia's student, and got my cutie mark."

"Your cutie what-now?" I asked. That was something I _definitely_ didn't know about.

"A cutie mark is a magic symbol on a pony's flank that represents their talent." She turned sideways, revealing a small mark on the end of her body. It looked like some kind of star. "Like mine. It represents my intelligence with magic."

"Oh, OK." I quickly understood. "Interesting."

"Anyway, we gotta get back on track. Let's keep going." She said. So, we proceeded to the Library.

A little later, I noticed something I probably should have seen earlier. Nearby civilians were staring, pointing, and muttering things about me and my appearance. I didn't blame them, but I began feeling a bit embarrassed, and out of place, being the only one of my kind here. Spike, who was now riding on Twilight's back, caught sight of my mortified expression.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked me, getting the attention of the rest of the crew.

I stuck my thumb out to the nearby citizens. "I forgot I'm the only human here."

"Don't worry about them, partner." Applejack said. "You'll be able to introduce yourself to 'em later, anyway. Everypony here is always willin' to welcome newcomers."

"Yeah. That's how they met me!" Spike told me.

"Well, I guess that could work." I admitted. "But then again, they'd probably be familiar with a baby dragon such as yourself. I'm from another dimension. That might make things a bit different."

"What makes you think that, silly?" Pinkie asked me.

"I just told you." I returned.

"Oh, yeah." She giggled again. "Oh! I'm gonna need to throw you a welcome party later!"

"Really? You'd do that?" I asked them.

"Of course!" Twilight assured me. "Whether you're from another dimension or not, you're our friend. And from what I've learned, a true friend deserves a proper welcome."

I was a bit touched by this. They saw me as their friend? Wow. Maybe I really _could_ learn to live here. But if I did, then my family back home would worry about my absence. And even if I didn't want to stay here, I wouldn't even be able to get home. My ship is in pieces. I'm probably gonna need to think about this later.

"_Attention, Ponyville!_" I suddenly heard Rainbow Dash's voice. I turned toward her direction to see her in midair, and holding a megaphone. Huh. I didn't know they had that kind of technology here.

"_This is an_ _emergency!_" She continued. "_Everypony please proceed to your homes, and stay there until further notice. This is not a drill!_" Almost immediately, civilians began running into the nearby buildings, and taking cover. No one seemed to be panicking, though. As soon as everyone had locked themselves in their homes, Rainbow flew towards us, and landed a yard away. "Mission accomplished!" She said, saluting us with her hoof.

"Wow." I was impressed by her actions. "You'd make a good soldier, Rainbow."

"I would?" She questioned.

"From that proper warning you gave, I wouldn't be surprised if you became one." I responded. Afterwards, both of us bumped fist and hoof together, and all 8 of us continued to the Library. On the way, though, I noticed something odd. The sky had changed from a cloudless Summer blue, to a darkish gray color, with clouds to go with it. It also started to get a bit windy. Hmm. I got a bad feeling about this weather...

* * *

When I got a good look at the Golden Oak Library, I was once again left in astonishment. It was actually a hollow tree! There were balconies, a telescope, and windows everywhere.

"Wow!" I exclaimed. "This is my kind of treehouse! I can see why you call it the Golden Oak Library."

I actually saw Twilight blush a bit. "Thanks."

When we walked in, I was just as impressed. Multiple bookshelves, a flight of stairs to the next floor, and several more rooms. Even a door leading to a kitchen.

"Oh, man. Talk about making yourself at home." I commented. "I'm starting to like this library already."

"Glad to hear that." Twilight said, feeling a bit content. "Come on. There's something I wanna show you." So, I followed her upstairs. It turned out to be a bedroom, with 2 beds, and the entrances to the balconies. Twilight brought me to a small bookshelf next to the beds, where she took out a rather thick book. When she opened it up, I could see why. There was a big compartment in the book, revealing 5 golden necklaces, and 1 golden crown. Each relic had a small, colored jewel encased in its center. I had a slight hunch I knew what they were.

"The Elements of Harmony?" I guessed.

"Exactly." She told me. She used her magic, and put the crown on her head. "Believe it or not, this is actually my princess crown."

"Oh, cool."

"Now, listen. We're gonna be on our way back to Canterlot soon. Make sure you don't leave, OK? Spike is gonna stay here with you."

"Like I said, roger that!" I reassured her. So, she went back downstairs with the Elements, leaving me in the bedroom alone. I decided to rest in one of the beds. I was just so glad that they saw me as their friends. And I wasn't even their same species. Talk about good-hearted. I should return the favor, and stay here for a while. I could get to know them. Oh! Maybe they could help me fix my ship, if possible. Then again, there's no point in getting greedy.

But my joy quickly changed to suspicion as I stared out one of the windows, observing the cloudy sky. I realized that something about it seemed... unsettling. I don't think that's a regular weather pattern. How could it change that quickly? I suddenly remembered Queen Chrysalis. Uh-oh. I get a feeling she's on her way.

I immediately ran back downstairs to the rest of the group, where I saw Twilight coming out of a certain room. For some reason, she had just put away a small carving knife. But at that moment, I felt the need to warn them rather than ask about the knife.

"Guys. You need to get moving. Now! I think the changelings are on their way." I told them. "There's something strange about that gray sky out there."

"Are you sure?" They all asked me at once.

"Yeah. I've seen weather change, and it usually doesn't change on its own that quickly. You're gonna need to get going, pronto!" I urged them.

Twilight quickly took action. "You heard him, girls. Let's go!" Her crew immediately bolted out the door, but before Twilight could follow them, I stopped her.

"Twilight, wait a minute." I came up to her. "I just wanna thank you for accepting me as a friend here. It means a lot to me."

"Don't mention it, Ben." Twilight replied. "It's the least we could do."

"Listen." I continued. "As much as I wanna join you, I know now that I have to pass on this. I might not be able to do anything about this invasion, but I know that you can!"

"I'm not doing it alone." She corrected. "That's the Magic of Friendship."

I shot her a smile of confidence. "Well said. Now go! Fix this mess that I created!"

"Will do!" She immediately took off after her friends, while I watched as they made their way to the train station. After taking another look at the eerie sky, I shut the door, and Spike and I just waited, and hoped for the best. Spike was a bit quiet, though. But after 5 minutes of silence, he finally spoke up.

"You think they're in Canterlot already?" He asked.

"Well, nothing's happened so far. I'm pretty sure they'll be ready in time." I assured him. "Besides, with magic by their side, they'll probably get there before-"

**BOOM! **I was suddenly interrupted by an explosion so loud, it almost made my ears ring.

"_Whoa!_" Spike exclaimed. "What was-"

"The window!" I replied. I ran upstairs with Spike trailing behind. When we looked out the window, we immediately caught sight of something unspeakable! A large cloud of black horses was flying above the town, firing upon it with magic.

"Oh no!" Spike yelled with worry. "The changelings! But... They left 5 minutes ago. They can't possibly be in Canterlot yet! Does that mean...?"

At that moment, I had realized that the worst had been realized, leaving me with 3 words that came from my mouth.

"They're not ready..."

* * *

_To be continued..._


	5. The Guardian's Awakening: Part 3

**Note: Sorry this one took longer than it should have. I've been distracted with a bunch of stuff. At least it's a good one...**

Episode 5 - The Guardian's Awakening: Part 3

* * *

_3,000 Canterlot civilians' lives were put in danger one fateful day in the year 2014._

_The Defenders of Equestria had disappeared without a trace, and at its end, it seemed that a familiar threat would take the throne by force._

_However, a lone survivor had witnessed the horrors of the onslaught, and immediately took action, in a desperate effort to stop the attack._

_A hero that would change the fate of Equestria itself._

_A newcomer to our world._

_Known as The Guardian..._

* * *

**Ben**

* * *

I continued looking out the window at the oncoming onslaught, while Spike began pacing in a panic.

"Oh, this is bad!" Spike cried out. "What are we gonna do? We're gonna be changeling food if they aren't ready! They've probably been captured! Or _worse_!" He suddenly gasped. "What if they find _us_?"

Finally turning away from the window, I tried to calm him down. "Spike! Get a hold of yourself. We'll be fine, OK? I don't know if the same can be said for Twilight and the others, though. I'm gonna need to figure something out."

I headed into another part of the library, trying to think of a way to fix this. If they aren't ready, there's a chance I'm gonna need to go after them. But how? With each second of thought, I became more and more troubled. It didn't take a genius to realize that I was running out of time. Spike was right. We _will _be changeling food if I don't act fast. I was just about ready to start pacing myself.

I was about to give up on my thinking, when I suddenly caught sight of something. There was a crooked, maple-colored stick on the nearby desk, and a letter next to it. Hm. I don't remember _that _being there before. I picked up the letter, and took a quick look at it. The second I saw my name at the top, I knew something was up. I immediately began reading...

_Dear Ben,_

_I know I said that you'd have to be born with magic to use it, but after that memory spell incident on the train, I realized something. Based on what I know about magic, there's a slight chance you might possess it. I don't know how, but it seems like a rather extraordinary discovery, considering your kind doesn't know about that power._

_I took the liberty of creating a wand with one of the library's tree branches, and one of my tail hairs, like you mentioned. I know it might not look like much, but believe me. If it has my magic because of the tail hair, then it will benefit. If possible, train yourself with it, using the spell book sitting on the desk. If you can learn some combat spells, then do what you can to defend Ponyville, in case the changelings attack there. It'll mean a lot to me, and everypony else. And please. Whatever you do, don't come after us, no matter how grave the situation might be. It'll be too dangerous..._

_Twilight Sparkle_

I put the note down, and picked up the wand with my left hand. Strangely, the only 2 things I'm left-handed with are a frisbee, and this thing. I possess magic? Wow. I guess that explains the carving knife from earlier. But I never thought she'd do something like this for me. I really _was _more than grateful.

However, before I could open the spell book, the wand suddenly emitted a small, pink spark out of its tip, and it began circling me.

"What the...?"

Then it did something that made me realize something fantastic. The spark sealed itself inside my chest for a few seconds before coming back out in a new color. Bright blue. Then it sealed itself back in the wand.

My eyes widened in amazement. That was... part of my life essence. Of course. A connection between the wand and the user. Wait. Does that mean I'm a... a wizard, or something? Oh my gosh. This explains everything. The dreams, the lack of acne, even the Roth's incident. It all made sense now. Maybe that was the source of my athletic abilities. This means I have a chance. I can save them. Perhaps I _was _meant to fight this battle. I looked up again, meaning to look in His direction. Maybe this is why God brought me here...

Spike came in through the door. "Ben? What are you doing? We have a crisis on our..." I turned towards him with a look of confidence on my face. "Um... What's that in your hand?" He asked me.

"Spike..." I twirled the wand in my hand. "I've got some training to do..."

So, for the next 10 minutes, I trained hard with my new-found powers. It took a _lot _of concentration, but in the end, I managed to master levitation, a repair spell, teleportation, and a simple combat magic beam. Like the one Chrysalis fired at me with. The effects of my new magic were a bit different, though. Instead of the entire wand glowing, blue sparks emerged from the wand's tip, and covered the object I cast the spell on. All the while, Spike was left dumbstruck that I had gained access to magic.

"How did you...?" He attempted to ask me when I had finished training myself.

"I don't have time to explain right now. I gotta get to Canterlot." I told him.

"What? But Twilight said to stay here." Spike responded.

"She said that before this invasion occurred 15 minutes ago." I corrected him. "And I know for a fact that you can't get from one town to another that quickly. They're in trouble, and they need me. Besides, there's no other option to this. Do you _want _to be ruled by a bunch of insects?"

He thought for a moment, and finally sighed. "OK. Fine. I won't stop you. What should I do?"

"Find a place to hide, and stay there." I ordered him. "This could get ugly."

"Right." He began heading towards a certain door, but stopped for a second. "Wait. How are you gonna _get_ to Canterlot? The trains are probably overrun by now."

I shot him another confident smirk. "Don't worry. I've got everything planned out."

With that, I opened the door, and went outside. Still cloudy, but the changelings were gone. What? I looked towards the city to see why. There was a giant cloud of changelings surrounding Canterlot, and striking it like there was no tomorrow. And there probably won't be if I don't get moving. I looked at my wand, and began carrying out my plan. I'm gonna need to concentrate _hard _for this to work.

"OK, phase 1." I started by using my magic to teleport the remains of my ship to me. Afterwards, I looked over the pile. Still in pieces, but I'll soon fix that. Next, I took advantage of the levitation and repair spell, and did what I could to bring my ship back to life. In the end, it was back in one piece, but the outer hull was dented, and out of shape. Well, at least it can fly again. I guess I was wrong. It was down, but it's not out.

Tucking the wand in the back of my shirt, I jumped into my cockpit, and pressed the Launch button. The engine stalled for a bit before firing up, and the next thing I knew, I was in the air, and ready to make my way to the city. I looked towards Canterlot again. This is it. I'm not just saving the leader of this world. I'm saving all of it! Especially Twilight. If she sees me as her friend, then I gotta make it up to her.

"I won't let you down." I quickly pushed the gas pedal, and bolted toward the city, with my wand still in possession. On the way there, I viewed the ship's status.

**System Capacity: 66%  
Engines: Online  
Hyperdrive: Offline  
Weaponry: Online**

Oh, my weaponry systems are intact. that could come in handy. Looking up from the screen, I noticed a few changelings in the distance coming at me. Expected as much. They're bound to notice a flying spacecraft heading towards them. I immediately took a look at the weaponry options, and which one to use.

**Boron Railgun  
Ion Blaster  
Neutron Gun  
Laser Cannon  
Plasma Rifle**

Hmm. How about the Boron Railgun? I pressed it on the screen, and heard the ship charge up. Taking my aim, I immediately held the gun triggers, and watched as the front cannons fired yellow, fast-rate, super-heated metalloid lasers, hitting the changelings, and causing them to plummet to the ground. Maybe someone down there can take care of them.

* * *

With those guys out of the way, I managed to find a way into the city, and through the changeling cloud surrounding it. Trying to find a place to land, I heard the ship's engine starting to die down. So, I quickly steered the ship into a small alley, and tried to land it as carefully as I could. Not as easy as before, though. When I knew I had stopped, I jumped out of my ship, and found that I gave it a few more scratches on the hull. Like it'll matter. I got an invasion to stop.

When I exited the alley, I got a better look at my environment, and found the situation worse than I thought. Changelings were everywhere, civilians were running in panic, and there were even a few buildings on fire. Just the sight of it began to bring my guilt back to me. No! I can't let guilt distract me this time! I gotta fix this! But where do I go? What's the quickest way to end this?

Wait. The Elements! If I can find the Elements of Harmony, and locate Twilight and the others, they can get rid of these things. But... This city is huge! Where do I look first? I began thinking. Where would I be sent to if I was captured by a horde of changelings? Suddenly, something clicked in me, and I looked towards the castle. Perfect. Chrysalis is bound to be there. And if she is, then the rest of them should be close.

Gaining this information, I drew my wand from the back of my shirt, twirled it in my hand, and prepared to make a break for it, with one last command to myself.

"OK, soldier. Let's move out..."

Immediately, I took off, and began running through the streets. But the second I did, a blast of green magic suddenly flew right past my head, and hit the wall to my left. I turned around to see another group of changelings homing in on me. I instantly increased my speed, and began running through the narrow streets, determined to shake them off. I could easily tell they were on the ground. I didn't hear the buzz of their wings, so I knew I had them down here with me.

I took a quick look behind me. No changelings. When I turned back towards my running direction... "_Oh_, _snap_!" All of them were right there! My mind began racing before I got an idea. Looks like I'm gonna have to use the environment to my advantage. As soon as I got close enough, I took a leap, jumped off a changeling's head, and grabbed hold of the edge of the building to my left. Climbing to the roof of the building, I turned around, and blasted every changeling that had been chasing me.

"7 down, about a million more to go." I turned back towards the city, and saw that the whole chase had led me even closer to the castle. Yes! I'm gonna make it. But before I could continue, I looked down to see something horrible. A huge group of citizens was in the center of town, surrounded by a bigger swarm of changelings, ready to do who-knows-what to them.

I was already horrified by this, but then I saw a few smaller ones in the terrified crowd, leaving me in complete shock. Are those kids?! Quickly, my shock changed to fury, and something inside me _snapped_.

**"HEY, BUG-EYES!" **I screamed at the changelings, easily getting their attention. The second I did, I jumped from the roof, and landed right on top of one. From there, I began attacking the rest of the changelings in every way possible. Including my physical abilities! I fired magic bolts, kicked, punched, even threw them. Sometimes all at once! I managed to hold them all off and save the civilians, but not without a few costs.

They fought back, and did a good amount of damage to me. My right arm had been given a large, blood-free cut, I had been blasted with red-hot magic all over, and I had taken even more scars to the face. It hurt like crazy, but I couldn't stop now. That was just the beginning. As soon as I knew they were all unconscious, I turned to the citizens.

"Find a place to hide if you wanna live. There are more on the way." I ordered them.

"Oh, thank you!" I heard one of them. "Thank you so much!"

"Go! _Now!_" I responded. They instantly ran towards a building, and did what they could to take cover. After they were all away from danger, I continued towards the castle.

Well, kind of. I checked every street and corner for any changelings that needed a hit to the face for being here. And believe me. It took blood, sweat, grit, and a whole lot of magic from me to hold them back. The soreness just got worse with every fight I came across, but I knew I couldn't give up. This world depends on me now. I guess this is what real war is like.

After a good 15 minutes of clearing the streets, I began storming through the castle halls, taking out any changeling that got in my way, not to mention freeing a lot of guards. I searched several doors, but not one of them was the way to the throne room.

When I had entered one room, I saw a huge load of guards stuck to the ground with some green, gelatinous substance, and 5 changelings surrounding them. I immediately took action.

"_No you don't!_" I quickly fired a charged magic bolt at each of them, and vaporized the substance the guards were trapped in. "You OK?"

"Thanks for that. These creeps are everywhere." One of them responded. I noticed that he looked a bit different from the other guards. He was white and horned, his mane was blue, and his armor suit was purplish instead of yellow.

"Wow. You look like you were on fire!" He said after observing me, and the pain-inducing details that followed.

"That's because I was." I responded. "At least 57 times. These bugs are brutal!"

"Wait a minute... I saw you with my sister earlier today." He recalled.

"Twilight Sparkle? She's your sister?" I questioned.

"Yeah. Where is she?" He asked me.

"I was about to ask the same thing." I replied.

"You mean she's not with you?"

"I think she and her friends were captured. I'm trying to find them." I explained. "Where's the throne room?"

"Come on." He led me out of the room, and into the hall again. He brought me to a certain door. "Head through here. The throne room is at the very end of the hall."

"Thanks. There's a high chance the queen of these parasites is celebrating there. And believe me, when I get to her, it's gonna be a slaughter!" I responded.

"If you say so." He said. "Anything else?"

"Yeah. Gather the rest of the troops, and do what you can to hold back the rest of the onslaught. If I can get the queen, then I can get the rest of this mess cleared up. Now go!" I ordered him.

He looked at the rest of the guards. "You heard him, men. Let's move!" So, we both went separate ways, and I prepared for what might be the ultimate sacrifice for me.

* * *

I took a look at the throne doors before trying to head in. There was a crack in between the doors. I took a look through them, and noticed something unusual. There was a chain attached to the doors from the other side. Locked? Guess I'm gonna need to blast it open. But then I caught sight of something I _really _didn't like. Twilight's friends and Celestia were all trapped on the ceiling in a bunch of green, gelatinous cocoons! Like some kind of prey!

Next, I saw Twilight. She was closer to the ground, but trapped in a way that looked a lot worse! The green substance was on her back, horn and wings, keeping her stuck to the wall. "Oh, no..."

But _then _I saw _her! _Queen Chrysalis! She was just walking through the throne room like she owned it! And the Elements of Harmony were in her possession. Twilight's crown was on her head, and the necklaces were all on her neck at once! A neck that long.

"Equine and Terror just raised a child to adulthood, and it is _disgusting!_" I commented without attracting attention to myself. "I gotta get this open..." So I began charging up a beam of magic to get the doors open. All the while, I watched as Chrysalis bragged about her so-called victory.

"Did you really think you could try and stop me from taking back my kingdom?" _Her _kingdom?! Why that stupid...

"Honestly, you just made yourselves look ridiculous." Oh, I'll show you ridiculous when I get in there.

"And you." She began walking towards Twilight. "Last time we met, you weren't even a princess. And now look at you. You must be so proud. But I don't have any cares for that. This castle is mine now. And you and your little friends..." She moved even closer to Twilight, and seemed to be trying to scare her. "...are reduced to my dinner."

Their what?! Oh, no! She's gonna suck every piece of their love out. Come on, come on, charge up!

"A dinner fit for a queen. I'm sure it's going to be delicious! Meanwhile, my subjects will be gaining the same succulent morsels. A pity, though. Isn't it, Celestia? Your subjects won't be able to last 5 seconds. Their love's probably been consumed already." She looked down at the Elements on her neck. "At least you won't need to hold onto these bits of jewelry anymore. Everything belongs to _me _now."

I looked at my wand. The sparks were building up. I think it's ready...

"And I'd say it's about time I returned, anyway." I heard her continue. "I guess an invasion during a wedding wasn't the right way to go. But, why does that matter? I rule now. All of us rule. Finally, we shall have our uprising. Finally, we shall rule Equestria!"

Almost immediately, I blasted the doors wide open, and walked in, getting everyone's attention. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

"Ben?" I heard Twilight speak up. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"The right thing! What else would I be doing? You couldn't possibly be ready to fight these pests in 5 minutes!" I responded. "Besides, you look like you could use some backup!"

"What in Equestria is _that _thing?" Chrysalis questioned.

I turned to Chrysalis, and pointed my wand at her. "Alright, Cocoon Queen. Listen up! I did _not _come to this dimension to be shot down by the likes of you! And I _definitely _did not just fight every changeling in the city to come in here and watch you take this castle. If you think you can just take over this world by force, then you got another thing coming! You want this planet? You'll have to pry the fate of it from my cold, dead hands!"

"Wait a minute..." She said. "You're that thing I saw in the clouds!" Her look of suspicion changed to a smug expression. "Well, I guess we could catch up. Besides, I don't see how that would be hard. I can easily see my subjects have given you a hard time. How did you get past them, anyway? You're fighting with a stick!"

I shot her a smirk. "You call it a hard time, I call it a minor flesh wound." Admittedly, it was still sore, though. "And for the record, this is a wand! There's a difference. And I assure you, this thing has a lot more magic than that burnt waffle cone on your head!"

"Wha-" She tried to respond, but I kept talking.

"And if you think you have the right to call this an invasion, think again. I see it as an infestation that needs cleaning!"

I could see I was making her angry. "Are you calling me a pest?!"

"I'd call you something way worse than that, but I can't find any other insult!" I shot back at her.

"Why you..." She was beyond agitated now. "That's it! I've had enough!" Her horn began glowing green again. "If it's a duel you want, then you'll get one!"

I kept my smirk. "Bring it on, she-devil!"

Almost instantly, the 2 of us fired a beam of magic at each other, and both projectiles met in the middle. For the first few seconds, neither one moved closer to either of us. But I noticed that Chrysalis' beam began gaining the upper hand. Um, so to speak. Her beam of magic began moving closer to me, and I had to put in some more concentration to keep it from actually blasting me. Now my left hand was getting sore. But a different kind. It felt drained from its use of magic, and resulted with my hand aching like crazy.

I finally couldn't take it anymore. I was just about ready to break the connection, and try to fight her without my powers. But for some reason, the connection broke for me. The wand suddenly stopped its effect on its own, vaporizing Chrysalis' attack in the process, and neither one of us was fazed. But I was confused.

I began examining the wand, as it had stopped altogether. "What? What happened?" Suddenly, the life essence sealed in my wand emerged from its tip again, and just vanished into thin air. My magic! It's gone! What in the name of...? I looked to see Chrysalis charging up another attack.

"'More magic'? I don't think so." She responded. "You'd better say your farewells." She immediately fired her next attack, but I managed to jump out of the way, resulting with it hitting the wall. She began firing multiple shots at me, each one I managed to dodge. I was starting to tick her off.

"Oh, for pony's sake! Stay still, already!" She yelled.

Then, without warning, she fired a bolt that came flying back around, and knocked me over. I was lying on the ground now, unable to get up. The soreness began to take over. I was losing my energy. No. I can't give up yet. Come on. Get up! Suddenly, I _did _get up. But not in a good way. I was lifted into the air by Chrysalis' magic, and I was soon facing her as she shot me a victorious look.

"Finally, you're cooperating. Was that so hard?" She asked me. "Time to take care of you once and for all!" She instantly slammed me against the doors, and I could only watch as she fired multiple rounds of magic at me, creating a pain that I had never experienced. It was like taking multiple punches to the chest!

Just when it looked like the torture was over, she charged up one last shot that not only brought me even more pain, but created a loud crack. But it wasn't from me. I weakly looked to the left to see that my wand had been snapped in 2 from the chaos. The only thing holding it together was Twilight's tail hair.

I heard everyone gasp, and I immediately fell to the ground on my back, with no way of getting up again. Everything slowly became a blur, and my surroundings began going black. This can't be happening. I can't fail. How could it end like this? I can't go yet...

"Ben! No!" I heard Twilight faintly. The blackness continued to surround me.

"Well, there's that parasite taken care of. I'll deal with his remains later. Now, back to my reign." Chrysalis commented.

I tried to fight it, but the sound of my heart beating began fading away, and I could only respond to the call of death as my eyes began closing on their own. No. Please, God. Don't let it end like this. I don't know if you're there, but if you are, please give me another chance. Please don't do this.

One final beat, and everything was gone.

_I can't be finished yet..._

* * *

Almost instantly, I woke up again. But... It didn't look like I had woken up. Everything was still black. Was this... The Void? I looked down to see my if my body was there. It was, but it had changed completely. It was... Oh my gosh. My soul? No. I can't be dead. I gotta wake up. Please! I... Oh, who am I kidding? There's no way out of this. I can't believe it. It's over. And I was so close.

I hung my head in defeat, and began my sorrow. But I was suddenly interrupted by a golden light that appeared in the distance. I instantly realized what it was, but I didn't approach it. There's no point in going to Heaven if you've still got the guilt of leading a planet to its death. Besides, I might as well be in Hell, anyway. I just turned away from the light, and continued with my remorse.

But for some reason, I felt something different. Like someone was watching me. I turned back toward the light to find that it had increased in size. No, wait. Maybe it didn't. Did it move? Oh, no. It's heading right for me...

I immediately started backing away from it. I can't go. Not for what I've done. I began running in the opposite direction, but it was no use. The light had caught up to me, and I was suddenly immobilized. For a few seconds, I couldn't move. But when I had been automatically turned around towards the light again, the immobilization had stopped. I guess there's no escaping this. I could only hang my head again, knowing what was to come.

But for some strange reason, it didn't. My background hadn't changed at all. Instead, I felt a something touch my shoulder. What?

Then I heard a unfamiliar male's voice. "Why the long face, Benjamin?" I looked up to see the last person I expected to see in my life, or any other life I might be living. A man with a white robe, no shoes, white hair, and a beard. He was standing right in front of me, a smile on his face, and a hand on my shoulder. I was looking up at... God?

My expression didn't change, though. I just kept my depression. Not like I'd be happy to see Him. "What kind of question is that? I'm pretty sure you know why."

"I only know things when I am aware of them." He corrected me.

"Like I care." I responded bitterly, and turned away. "I can't believe you've done this to me."

"Done what?" He asked.

I immediately grew furious, and turned back towards Him again. He had the nerve to ask that question? "'Done what'? '_Done what_'?! _What do you mean, 'Done what'?! _You know perfectly well what I'm talking about! You destroyed my family, made _me _destroy a planet, and you didn't even let me try to save it! It's like you _want _to make my life miserable!"

I felt tears leak from my eyes, but I didn't care. "What did I do to deserve this punishment? Why are you putting me through this torture? You've taken everything away from me!" I turned away again, and just let the tears flow from my face. "You've ruined everything for my family."

I just couldn't take it anymore. And to think that I actually considered thanking Him earlier. I began walking away.

"Because it was for the greater good." These words caused me to stop, and turn towards Him.

"How is giving me a sorrowful life for the 'greater good'?" I asked Him, still traumatized. "Why did my parents have to divorce? Why did you give them that kind of solution?"

Each question I asked, His expression didn't change. Except for His smile disappearing. "Because there was no other safe option."

"'Safe option'? What are you talking about?" I asked Him. "What could possibly be worse than divorce?"

He suddenly revealed a bit of sorrow Himself. "The loss of your father."

This brought me great confusion. "What?"

"Yes. I'm afraid it's time I told you. You see, your father is going through some traumatizing phases right now." He explained. "As you know, these phases are very stressing for him. They are interfering with his life, and his possible future. I could feel his pain, and it hurt him greater than you think. That's why he needed to consult a priest for help. When he asked for a solution, he learned that he had no choice. He needed to make sure that you and your family were still taken care of without him actually being there. That's why he had to leave. To take care of his stress, and continue his life in peace. I know it may sound confusing right now, but I assure you. You _will_ learn more about this in time."

"But... Why was it a _safe_ option? What would happen if he _didn't _leave?" I asked. I still needed more information, so I figured I might as well continue.

He closed his eyes with regret, as if He didn't want to tell me. "If your father continued living his life in pain... He would have thoughts of... suicide." My jaw dropped after hearing that word.

"He... He would have...?" I was almost paralyzed, I couldn't even bring myself to say it.

"I know this is a bit sudden for you, but it's true. You would have lost your father, and your family would live in a greater depression than the one you lived through. It was better for you to have a separated father than no father at all. I'm sorry for leaving you in sorrow all this time. It breaks my heart to see you like this." He came up and put His hand on my shoulder again. "I know it must have been hard for you. But it was the only way."

"I... I..." At first, I was just speechless. But then I came to my senses. "No. _I'm_ the one who should be sorry. I've hated you for doing the right thing for us." I hung my head and closed my eyes. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know the consequences would be that harsh."

"It's alright, Benjamin." He told me. "I understand your pain. If I were you, I probably would have felt the same. You've been through a lot lately. Besides, there's something else you need to know."

"What?" I questioned. "You mean there's more to this?"

"Yes. There are some things that I've been meaning to tell you about _your _life." He replied. "I needed to change your fate for the greater good as well. I knew about your family's troubles, so I gave you the opportunity needed to save your home. I knew what assignment you would be given, and that's why I brought you to this new world: So you could help protect this universe, and learn something about yourself."

I thought for a moment. "Magic?"

"Well, yes and no. Magic _does _exist in this universe, and I have given it to you. But this is something greater. You see, you've possessed a power since the day you were born. That power is your bravery, and your will to risk your own life to save others. I took the liberty of enhancing that into something that will aid you on your new quest."

"My quest?" I asked. My hopes began raising a bit. "Does that mean I'm not dead?"

"I have not brought you here to take you home. I have brought you here to give you this knowledge, and your assignment. You have been chosen for this sacred quest. You will be given a new weapon, learn about magic in this world, and learn how to wield it properly. With it, you will have the capability to protect this world, and learn about one other thing."

"Which is?" I questioned.

He paused for a bit, then finally spoke up. "You will learn that on your own. But I can tell you this: It has something to do with your new friends."

I instantly realized what he might have meant: The Magic of Friendship. Of course!

"Now go, Guardian. Your hour has come. Become the hero you were always meant to be..."

He then vanished, and I began levitating a bit. Guardian? I was meant to be a hero? Wow. He _did _trust me. And to think that all this time I didn't trust _Him._ I guess it's time to make up for it. I'm sorry for what I've done to you. I promise, no matter what the cost, I'll make things right. I'm eternally grateful for this, God. I always will be.

With that, I vanished from the Void, and prepared for the fight of my life...

* * *

I woke up on the floor of the throne room. OK, I obviously haven't been moved. I still felt all the scars on my body, but something was different. The pain was gone. My energy had returned. Looks like it's time to make a reentry, then. I got up to a sitting position, and looked to my left. The 2 pieces of my wand were twitching a bit. No, wait. That's the tail hair!

Suddenly, the hair separated from the pieces altogether, and began levitating on its own. Then it began glowing pink, like Twilight's magic. Its glow then transferred to the wand pieces, and those began levitating alongside the hair. But _then _it did something that left me in complete astonishment. The pieces instantly put themselves together, fixing the wand. Once it was repaired, it began glowing white, and went through an amazing transformation.

Its physical appearance changed to something extraordinary. The handle piece widened a bit, and turned into a smooth, dark-brown handle, while the rest of the wand straightened and increased in length, keeping its maple color. In the end, the wand had changed into a _proper _wand. Of course! My weapon. After its transformation was complete, Twilight's hair carefully sealed itself back inside the wand, and blue sparks began emerging from its tip. By this time, everyone had come to realize that I was back up again.

I got on my feet, and watched as the wand's sparks swarmed around me. I felt this warm, comfortable feeling build up inside me, and I let the magic initiate a healing process, as all my scars removed themselves from my body. Pretty soon, I was flawlessly clean, and ready to battle again. I looked towards my wand, and watched as it floated down next to me, waiting for me to take it.

I reached out and closed the wand in my left hand. The warmth enveloped me, and my confidence was fully restored. Suddenly, something sparked inside me. But it wasn't part of my confidence. It was knowledge. I had been given access to 2 other spells: a shield spell, and a cloud-walking spell. Huh. Those could come in handy.

Everyone in the room could only stare in disbelief that I had been brought back to life, while I twirled my wand in my hand.

"Alright! _Now _we're talking!" I looked towards Chrysalis. "What was that you said? Something about _me _being the parasite?"

"Ben?" I heard Twilight. "How did you...?"

I glanced at her. "Religion. It's beneficial."

"How is that possible?" Chrysalis questioned in shock. "I had you!" Her horn started glowing again, and she fired a beam of magic towards me. But this time, I was ready. I quickly held my wand sideways, and put my right hand on my left hand, and watched as my wand created a large barrier that protected me from the shot.

"Not this time." I reacted, now with a serious look on my face. "Whether you want to or not, we're gonna play this whole thing out to the end. Unless you'd prefer to hand over those Elements, take your army, and leave without having to spend the rest of the week putting your _face_ back together."

"Fine!" She responded angrily. "I'll just finish what I started!"

"I thought so." I responded.

The battle resumed, but the odds were evenly matched this time. It began pretty simple. She repeatedly fired multiple shots at me, and I just swiped my wand to the left or right to deflect it. It felt a lot easier now that I wielded real magic, but I made sure I put my heart into it. I didn't want to risk the consequences.

If I could just get close enough, I could inflict some damage. But how? While I deflected the shots, my mind began racing. Then, I came up with something. Maybe if I could agitate her enough, she would start attacking without thinking, and I could find an opening. And I think I know just how to do it.

The second she stopped firing her magic, I fired a few shots back to create a distraction. While she blocked them, I immediately charged at her, and jumped up, using a bit of levitation for a boost.

"_Eat THIS, Mother Buzzer!_" While in midair, I took the opportunity to give her 5 kicks to the face, with the 5th one being an uppercut that sent me backflipping back to the middle of the room. That's a good way to start.

After the attack, Chrysalis shook her head in pain. "Ugh! You insolent pest!"

"I thought I already made it clear who the pest was!" I commented.

"We'll just do this the hard way, then! Minions!" She called through the hole in the roof. 5 changelings flew in, and awaited her orders. Reinforcements.

"Get rid of that thing! Immediately!" She commanded them. They instantly began flying towards me. I managed to blast 2 of them out of the air, but I had to start running from the rest of them.

I quickly bolted towards the wall. I could tell one of the changelings was right behind me, but I knew what to do. I've managed to pull this off before at the Academy. Let's hope I can do it a second time. I increased my speed towards the wall, and at the last second, I started running up it, and performed a backflip that sent me behind the changeling facing the wall.

Before he could turn around, I blasted him unconscious, and turned around to the last 2. One fired a blast of magic at me, which I immediately sent flying back at him. The last changeling, realizing he was the last one, decided to change things. And I mean literally!

Without warning, he somehow transformed himself to look like _Twilight_, and proceeded to attack me. I created a shield that covered me completely, and watched as it tried to break the barrier. OK, that was unexpected. Then again, there's no way I'm falling for that. I know who the real Twilight is. To shake the changeling off, I removed the shield spell at the right time, and ducked when he tried to go for the upper part of my body.

Instead of tackling me, he ended up jumping over me. He turned around to see a bolt of magic shot by me, and the next thing he knew, he was down and out like the rest of them. Afterwards, I turned back to Chrysalis. "Some army you've got!"

She was _beyond _ticked now. "_Argh! _Do I have to do _everything_ myself?!" Her horn lit up, and I prepared for whatever she had for me. But it wasn't what I had expected. Instead of firing another blast of magic, she had suddenly disappeared in a cloud of green smoke. Uh-oh. Teleportation. I began looking around, waiting for any sign of her return. She's coming any second now. I just know it.

I instantly heard a large display of sparks behind me.

"Ben, look out!" Twilight attempted to warn me. But before I could turn around, I felt another blast of Chrysalis' magic hit my back, and send me flying forward, hitting the floor again, with my wand still in my hand. I heard her lunge at me from behind, but I quickly turned around while still on the floor, and held my wand sideways, clashing it against her horn. Sparks were flying everywhere as I tried to keep her from holding me down all the way.

I narrowed my eyes with determination, staring straight at her. "Like I was saying, _not this time!_" I immediately brought my legs up, and kicked her clean off me, sending her into the air. She landed on her feet next to me, but by that time, I had jumped back up, and we started clashing wand and horn together several times, trying to find a weak point for each other. Honestly, I never thought I'd be using my wand like a sword.

After several sparring moments, I decided to do a surprise movement by jumping up, and blasting her with levitation, keeping her in the air while trying to catch my breath.

"You know..." I began commenting. "I gotta admit. For something I've never seen before, you're good at this. But that doesn't keep me from having to stop you."

Hearing this, she shot a look of anger at me, and fired a blast of magic at me, hitting me in the chest, and knocking me back a few feet. Dang it! I forgot about that. She began walking towards me as I could only back away, still on the floor. "You'll _never _stop me from taking what is rightfully mine, you 2-legged freak!"

She forced me against the wall, next to Twilight. Uh-oh. I know what she's planning.

"What makes you think this kingdom belongs to you?" I asked her. "You don't own _jack_!" I looked down at her leg. "And I'm here to make sure it_ stays_ that way!"

Before she could use her magic to stick me to the wall, I kicked her leg, causing her to topple over, giving me enough time to throw some punches to her face, and blasting her against the wall. She was left crippled, and unable to get up. Still awake, though.

I turned to Twilight. "I can see why she took you out so easily. She's insane!"

"How did you _do _that?" She asked me. "And why has your wand changed?"

"I'll explain later." I replied. "I don't think she's had enough yet."

Sure enough, Chrysalis began getting on her feet. But it didn't take a genius to realize she was weakened. "What in Equestria is wrong with you?!"

"What kind of question is _that?_" I asked her in confusion. "You're the one trying to kill me!"

"Why won't you just accept your demise, already?!" She furiously questioned me with her legs shaking weakly.

"Because that's not why I came here, you parasitic psycho!" I replied. "I came here to protect my friends, and this planet from you, and any other threat!" I turned to the captive crew, and shot them a smile. "Consider me part of the group, folks!"

"Friends?!" Chrysalis reacted in a disgusted tone. "Who needs _friends_? I hunger for power!"

"Well, friendship _is _a power!" I retorted. "You're just too blind to see that!"

"Yeah! You tell her, dude!" I heard Rainbow encourage. The rest of the group began cheering for me.

I began walking towards her, twirling the wand in my hand again, and preparing for the final shot.

In her weakened state, she could only back up to the wall. "Don't get any closer!" She tried to threaten me by firing another blast at me, which I blocked with ease.

"You know, it's strange." I told her as I walked. "You're afraid of magic when it's used against you. But when you use it for your purposes, you see it as your friend."

"Keep away from me, you freak!" She cried out.

I was now right in front of her. "I'm not a freak, you piece of terror." My wand's tip began glowing again, and I readied for the final shot. "I'm just from another universe. And I'm afraid this is what you get when you mess with my ship, and my friends." I lowered the wand, and blasted her with the spell, knocking her unconscious almost instantly.

Afterwards, I took the Elements from her, and turned back to the crew, as they cheered for me, while Twilight could only stare at Chrysalis.

"Did you just...?" She tried to ask.

"Don't worry. She's just unconscious." I assured her. "Come on. Let's get you out of this."

* * *

After I had released everyone, they were all congratulating me for my accomplishment.

"That was fantastic!" Rarity praised.

"That was true fightin', partner!" Applejack complimented.

"'True fighting'?!" Rainbow questioned in disbelief. "That was _way_ beyond awesome!"

I was easily flattered by their comments. "Come on, guys. You think I'm just gonna sit back and leave you hanging? On the ceiling?" I turned to Twilight. "Especially since _you_ see me as your friend in this world. Like I said, that means a lot to me."

"Oh, come on, Ben." She said. "You think we _wouldn't _greet a newcomer to Equestria? Besides, based on what I just saw you do, you deserve to be one of us. I've _never _met anyone as compassionate as you."

I rubbed the back of my head in a flattered way. I think my face went red a bit.

"She has every right to say that." Celestia told me. "You were willing to sacrifice yourself to save our home. That is something seldom seen in our land. You have my eternal gratitude, Benjamin."

"Don't mention it." I told her. "I may not have fought a battle as severe as this..." I turned to Twilight and the others. "But if it means fighting for my new friends, then it's something worth fighting for."

Smiles of joy appeared on their faces, and they brought me in for the biggest group hug I had ever experienced. I knew I had a friend back home, but this was something else. It was like I had gained 6 new sisters! At that moment, I had realized something amazing. This is what _true _friendship is like.

"As much as I hate to interrupt something something this sentimental, I'm afraid there's still a task at hand." Celestia reminded us.

"Oh, right!" I took out the Elements and gave them to Twilight, who put them on their rightful users.

"Alright. ready, girls?" Twilight prepared them.

Meanwhile, I prepared for whatever came next. But nothing did_. _From them, at least. But I _did _catch sight of an all-too familiar glow from my chest. My Aviator pin!

"Oh, no. Not again!" I immediately took it off of my chest. It seemed to be reflecting its gold color, but in a brighter way. Then, my wand automatically shot out several blue sparks that covered the pin, and began changing it into something incredible. The sparks formed into some kind of golden bracelet that settled on my right arm, while the pin decreased in size, and changed from gold to a bright green, Aviator wing-shaped jewel that encased itself in the bracelet.

After its unusual transformation, everyone could only stare in shock while I stared at it in confusion, trying to figure out why it had looked familiar.

"What? How is that possible?" Twilight asked as I continued to stare at the bracelet. Then, something clicked in me. This looks like one of the... I widened my eyes in amazement. "Is this a... a 7th Element of Harmony?" I looked up at the others. "Did any of you guys know about this?"

"No." Twilight answered. "There's only supposed to be 6 Elements."

"Huh. Peculiar." Intrigued by this, I looked closer at the Element on my wrist. When I viewed the connector piece, I saw a word engraved on it, and felt the need to read it out loud. "Courage?"

"An Element of Courage... Hm..." Twilight thought out loud. "Well, I can easily see why it would be that _kind _of Element. But I can't really understand why there would even be a 7th Element in the first place."

"Well..." I began ringing in my own opinion. "I guess there are some things you just can't explain. But then again... Maybe there's a chance we'll learn more about this in time."

"Well, if it means adding another member to our group, then count me in!" Rainbow added with confidence.

"I second that!" Applejack agreed, triggering everyone else to accept this.

"Thanks, guys." I still had my mind on the battle, though. "So! How do these work? Those things out there aren't intending to leave on their own."

But before anything else happened, I was suddenly blasted by magic from behind, and fell to the floor. When I turned around, I saw Chrysalis getting on her feet, angrier than before. Uh-oh.

"_No one _does that to me!" She screamed in fury. "If that's how you're gonna treat me, then I'll just return the favor!"

She immediately bolted towards us, snatched Twilight from the ground, and flew out from the hole in the roof. I could only watch as Twilight attempted to get out of her grip, but instead let her crown leave her head, and fall to the floor. "TWILIGHT!" Everyone shouted.

I quickly took action, grabbed her Element, and turned to the rest of the group. "I'll go after her! Try to find a way into the sky!" I teleported myself onto the roof, and watched as they ran out of the throne room. Let's hope they'll find a way up here. I looked up to the night sky to see Chrysalis trying to get away with Twilight. And she was succeeding. Gotta move quick!

I fired a cloud-walking spell on myself, and used some levitation to bring a small cloud to my location, and jumped onto it. I then used my levitation to bring it upwards, and toward Chrysalis and Twilight. They had no idea I was behind them.

"Let me go!" Twilight screamed in a terrified way. Oh, no! I forgot to get rid of that stuff on her horn! She can't use her magic! I looked down at the distance between me and the ground, then back at Chrysalis. Oh, man, this is gonna be the craziest thing I have _ever _done! Oh, well. Time to take a leap of faith!

Without anymore hesitation, I jumped from the cloud, and towards Chrysalis, barely managing to grab ahold of her leg, and prevent myself from plummeting to the ground below. You could only imagine her surprise.

"What the- _Get off me!_" She yelled.

"You're not getting away that easily!" I responded, still managing my grip on her. I tried to blast her with my magic, but I couldn't get a clear shot. I didn't wanna hit Twilight either. But in the chaos, Twilight finally managed to break herself from Chrysalis' grip, causing me to lose mine on her leg. Pretty soon, all 3 of us were plummeting towards the ground. Or were we?

Instead of hitting the ground, all of us ended up landing on a large cloud. I barely managed to keep myself from falling off its edge. When I turned around, I saw Chrysalis walking towards Twilight, who seemed more frightened than ever. "Get away!"

"This is what you get for trying to interfere with my plans, princess!" Chrysalis remarked as she got closer to her.

Furious, I immediately blasted her with a large beam of magic that caused her to back away a little.

"_GET AWAY FROM HER, YOU LONG-LEGGED CREEP!_" I screamed at her, and fired another blast that sent her flying to the far end of the cloud. I immediately came to Twilight's aid, and removed the substance on her horn.

"Are you OK?" I asked, concerned for her. But I was a bit surprised when she jumped up and hugged me.

"Oh, thank goodness!" She cried out in relief, and pulled away from me. "That was too close."

"It's not over yet." I looked towards Chrysalis again, who was immediately getting up. I took out Twilight's crown, and put it on her head. "Here. You're gonna need this."

**"_You'll all pay for this!_" **Chrysalis screamed at us while charging up shots for us.

I glanced at Twilight with confidence. "Let's do this."

"Together!" She added.

With that, the 2 of us fought Chrysalis, and the projectiles she shot at us. It took a lot of energy and concentration, not to mention a lot of insanity, but in the end of it all, we were left unharmed, and Chrysalis was left incredibly exhausted.

"How is this possible?!" She questioned, frustrated with our tenacity. "You can't defeat me!"

"Maybe not on my own." I corrected her. "But the way I see it, if my friends are by my side, then we're more than capable than stopping you!"

Then, a large hot air balloon floated up from behind us, revealing the others. "Speak of the angel."

Then, Celestia, and one other Alicorn flew up, both preparing some kind of magic.

"Princess Luna!" Twilight cried out. "You made it!" Oh, yeah! Celestia's sister.

I turned back to the infuriated Changeling Queen. "Looks like the cavalry is here!"

"_Minions!_" She called again. But it wasn't 5 changelings. This time, there was at least 500 of them! And that wasn't even the entire army. "Destroy them all!"

I turned when I heard magic being used. Celestia and Luna had created a large, blue and yellow shield that covered our side of the cloud. The only 2 that weren't in it were me and Twilight.

"Get in the barrier!" Celestia commanded us.

"We can provide protection while you prepare the Elements!" Luna informed us.

I looked back at the oncoming swarm of changelings, then back. "No! Let Twilight in! I'll handle these guys!"

"_What?!_" Twilight questioned in disbelief. "You can't possibly be able to handle all of them."

"Does it look like we have a choice?" I responded in a serious manner. "If they get in the barrier with us, it's over. Besides, I've got a destiny to fulfill!"

"Your... Your destiny?" Twilight tried to ask. "You were _meant _to come here?!"

"I don't have time to explain!" I responded. "Go! _Now_!"

Hearing this, Twilight finally agreed. "OK, then. Just be careful..." I nodded, and she immediately ran into the barrier with the others to charge up their Elements, while I instantly ran towards the horde of changelings, hoping to keep them away from the others. Once again, they provided some small scars on me, but I didn't really care about those. Honestly, they didn't really hurt much, compared to what Chrysalis did to me earlier.

I used magic, got physical, and did whatever the heck it took to keep them away from the barrier. By the time it was almost over, I was fresh out of breath. I could only kneel on the cloud, just about ready to pass out. The last 5 changelings surrounded me, ready to finish me off. I looked down at the gray cloud. I wonder...

Before they could pounce, I stabbed my wand into the cloud, and extracted the lightning sealed inside it. This created an electric shockwave that sent the last 5 changelings flying off the cloud, swarming with electricity. I got up on my feet, a bit fatigued from the large battle, and looked towards Chrysalis.

"That's... inconceivable!" She expressed with surprise and annoyance. "You can't possibly survive that!"

"Oh, you'd think so, wouldn't you?" I commented. "Well, it's gonna take more than a bunch of mosquitoes to get rid of me!"

"You little abomination!" She responded with fury. "I'll make you suffer for this humiliation! I'll destroy everything and everyone you love!"

"_What _did you say?!" Did she just threaten my...?

"And make you _watch_!" She finished. That triggered something in me that I had never experienced. Almost immediately, I charged at her, and started clashing my wand against her face, enraged by her threat.

**"DON'T! YOU! EVER! THREATEN! MY!_ FAMILY!_" **I screamed with each hit. After taking enough damage, she blasted me a few yards away, and we both fired another large bolt of magic, with each one meeting in the middle. My urge to protect my family somehow returned, and I literally put every ounce of energy into my wand, creating the strength I needed to take Chrysalis down. My bolt of magic gained the advantage, and blasted her to the end of the cloud again.

As soon as I had dealt with her, my new Element began glowing green, and I started levitating towards the others, whose Elements were also ready. This is it. We've won.

"Your time here is up, Chrysalis!" I informed her. "It's time for these people to take back what's theirs!" Everyone's Elements began glowing their color, including mine. We were all surrounded by this large, rainbow-like stream, leaving me to realize that the Elements were quickly taking effect. "_So do everyone a favor, and keep yourself, and your love-eating army out of this city!_" I shouted victoriously.

Before anything else happened, everything suddenly went white again, and I heard a large explosion before blacking out.

* * *

_Thank you, my friend._

_Your devotion to protecting this universe will not be left unnoticed._

_I will watch over you, as I do with everyone...  
_

* * *

_Twilight! We're gonna be late. Are you sure he's gonna wake up?_

_Calm down, Rainbow. He'll wake up. Just be patient._

_Wait! I think he's starting to move!_

My eyes opened up to reveal daylight that seemed to be coming through a window. When I had opened them all the way, I saw Twilight, Spike, and the others. They were all dressed in their own outfits. I also noticed that I was in the same bed from when I first came here. I fell asleep?

I shook my head a bit. "Whoa. What happened?"

"We can explain later." Twilight told me. "Come on. We need to show you something."

I got out of the bed, and picked up my wand from the table next to it. "How long was I asleep?"

"About as long as a regular sleep would be." Twilight answered. "Personally, I think you deserved the rest."

"Am I interrupting something here?" Rainbow Dash cut in. "Come on! We're gonna be late if we don't head to the coronation room!"

Hearing this, I tucked my wand into the back of my shirt, and followed them through the halls while asking what had happened.

"So, after we sent changelings flying in all directions, I fell through the cloud, my wand's magic sent me to the ground unharmed, and you found me sleeping in the middle of the castle garden?" I clarified.

"Yep." Twilight responded. "And while you were sleeping, we've been preparing something for you."

"No need to thank me, of course!" Pinkie suddenly piped up.

I just smiled at them, but I was suddenly interrupted by a hairbrush over my head. "What the-" I tried to turn around to see why, but I was halted by magic that kept my head in place.

"Hold still, my dear." I heard Rarity tell me as the hairbrush continued straightening my hair. "You can't possibly go in there with your hair sticking up like this."

"Um... OK." I awkwardly agreed. After a few more strokes, she finally removed the hairbrush.

"Ah. Much better." She expressed in an accomplished way, leaving me to roll my eyes in a joking way.

They eventually led me to 2 large doors at the end of another hall, where I heard voices from the other side.

"Wait here." Twilight said to me. Then they all walked in through the doors, leaving me behind. I crossed my arms with a bit of confusion. What's this all about? Am I getting praised for my actions? As I thought about this, I heard a door open from behind me. I turned to see a guard come out of one of the doors on the left. The guard that claimed to be Twilight's brother. He came towards me.

"Hey! You ready?" He asked me.

"For what?" I asked in confusion. "What's going on?"

"You don't know?" He questioned. "I'm here to send you in."

"For what?" I repeated. "Is this a celebration or something?"

He thought for a bit before answering. "Don't worry. You'll see." We both turned towards the doors, waiting for whatever came next. "Hey, by the way... Thanks for helping my sister. It means a lot to me."

I shot him a smile. "No need to thank me. I've never abandoned anyone during an emergency, and I intend to keep it that way."

He held his hoof out to me. "Name's Shining Armor. Sorry I couldn't greet you before."

I brought out my hand, and shook his hoof. "Well, it would be kinda hard to when you're stuck to the floor." This prompted him to laugh a bit.

"Hey, not to be rude, but..." He continued. "What exactly are you? I mean, I've seen dragons, but you seem kinda new here."

"Well, technically I'm a human from an alternate universe. No lie." I told him. "But from my point of view, I'm just a guy doing what he can to keep this world intact."

"We are gathered here today to celebrate a miraculous triumph over yesterday's changeling invasion." I heard Celestia announce from the coronation room, and turned towards the doors again. "A newcomer to Equestria put his life at risk in an effort to save our beloved home, and not only succeeded in doing so, but also learned about the Magic of Friendship, and its benefits." Hearing these words made me more content that ever. "Therefore, it is with great pleasure that I introduce to you all..."

"Alright. You can go." He told me. I began walking towards the doors, which had opened on their own, revealing a church-like coronation prepared for me.

"Benjamin Cooney, member of the 3rd Dimension!" Celestia announced. I walked up the aisle to the front, and shot a look of assurance to each guard that saluted me on the left. This is way too familiar. I looked to the right to see Twilight and the others lined up next to Celestia and Luna, waiting for me. When I made it up to the front, Celestia used her magic to pull out a gold medal from a small box in Spike's hand, and put it on my neck.

"Benjamin, because of your heroic accomplishment, I am making you a representation of Canterlot royalty, and giving you the most honored position I can bestow." Celestia told me. "The Guardian of Equestria!"

Guardian... Of course! That's what He meant! I looked down at the medal. It was shaped like a coin, and had an Aviator symbol that looked like my pin. I looked up again, and watched as Luna used her magic to pull a curtain off the wall, revealing a stained glass window that portrayed me, Twilight, and the others defeating Chrysalis on the cloud.

"We will honor your name forever, Benjamin." Luna said. "Until then, we have much to teach you about our world."

"That is where you come in, Princess Twilight." Celestia directed towards Twilight.

"Me?" Twilight questioned.

"Yes." Celestia confirmed. "I am giving you a new mission for Equestria. Since you have learned plenty of lessons on magic and friendship as my student, I am assigning you to take him in as your student, and teach him everything you know about both. Are you willing to accept this task?"

Twilight returned an assuring smile. "I'll do what I can, Princess." She then glanced at me, and shot a wink, leaving me to nod in acknowledgement.

"I'm more than honored to be part of your world." I told Celestia. "But I don't need a medal to feel welcome here." I looked at Twilight and the others. "I only need my friends for that."

"Very well, then." She replied. Afterwards, she looked towards the audience. "You may all go outside to the party. We will join you shortly."

Everyone left the room, and I attempted to follow, but I felt Celestia's hoof touch my shoulder, and I turned back around. We were the only 2 that remained in the coronation room. "You should be proud, you know. Only one with true bravery has the ability to stand up to somepony as ruthless as the Changeling Queen."

"I'm not like that." I told her. "I'm just a soldier doing the right thing."

This caused her to chuckle a bit. "If you say so. Oh, by the way, I found your ship in the city, and took the liberty of moving it for you. Would you like me to fix it later?"

"Nah. I think I'll be able to take care of that myself if I can find my repair kit." I declined. "Besides, even if I _do _fix it, I'm not heading home yet. I've got a new home to look after, anyway."

"Alright, then." She accepted. "Come on. They're waiting for you."

So, the 2 of us proceeded through the halls, and made our way to the door outside. And when we opened it, everyone immediately looked my way, and _cheered. _They prepared this whole party for me. And it was huge! There was food, music, and a bunch of other stuff! And everyone was desperate to shake my hand. Even though I had to explain what a hand actually was, I was still completely flattered. It was like I was a celebrity! Just like my promotion. I even saw my damaged ship nearby the door.

When I made it over to the table where my friends were, and made myself comfortable, I joined them in a conversation about their world, and they even told me how they all became friends, and their talents. Twilight is a book-lover and a magic expert, Applejack is a professional "apple-bucker" at her farm, Rainbow Dash is a tough, faster-than-light type flyer from Cloudsdale, Rarity is a fashion designer at the Carousel Boutique, Fluttershy has the ability to communicate with animals, and Pinkie Pie is a random, hilarious, and fantastic party planner. Together, you've got one heck of a group to hang out with, whether they're the same species or not.

The party was amazing. I enjoyed the food, I met Twilight's family, and I even enjoyed the music. And as a bonus, I actually _did_ find my ship's repair kit. It was near the castle garden, where I had landed, and in one piece. I guess it didn't fall that far. The entire day was one big celebration. It was an experience I'll treasure forever.

* * *

After the party was over, we were on a train to Ponyville, recalling all the incidents that had occurred during the party. I sat with Twilight while everyone else sat in their own place.

"I can't believe you ate the entire vanilla cake, Pinkie." Twilight said jokingly. "You're lucky that wasn't the only one."

Pinkie was sitting in a seat on the right, and her lips were completely white. "Well, it was a good cake. I'm lucky I didn't have the guts to eat the chocolate one. I probably would have exploded or something!"

"I don't really care which one you ate." I reacted. "Chocolate, vanilla, either one would have been fine. The frosting on the chocolate one definitely gave it great taste, though."

"Got that right!" Rainbow added. "There's something about a chocolate cake that makes it as good as it looks."

"No matter how messy it may be." Rarity pointed out. She was still wearing her dress, unlike the others.

"They've got napkins for a reason." Rainbow replied, a bit annoyed by the comment.

"Well, either way, I'm _never _gonna forget a party as awesome as that." I told them all. "Especially if it's with you guys."

They all returned smiles, and Twilight nodded with assurance. "With that attitude, you seem well on your way to learning about Friendship. And with me as your teacher, you'll learn all about its prosperity in no time!"

"Count me in, Twilight." I said. "Count me in."

"Hey, about what you said earlier? About Religion?" Twilight added. "What exactly did you mean by that?"

I thought about it. "Well... It's actually pretty complicated. But nothing I can't explain to you guys."

So, I told them about God, how he controls the universe, and the fact that he was always on our side. I also told them about Heaven, and its eternal happiness. I thought they'd be confused, but they seemed a bit interested. "I know it might not be logical, but like I said, there are some things you can't explain."

"Life after death, huh?" Rainbow thought out loud. "Sounds impressive."

"Wow. So your family believes all that?" Twilight asked me.

"Yeah. We follow God in our lives, no matter what people say." I agreed.

"Well, it's not gonna change the way we see you. But... how does that explain your destiny?" Twilight continued. "At least, if that has anything to do with it..."

"Actually, that's the interesting part." I began explaining. "You see, when Chrysalis blasted me unconscious, I was actually greeted by God himself. He's assigned me to come here, and learn about your world, and its powers. I've actually shared a certain bond with you guys since I was born. A bond of fate. I was meant to meet you. To become one of you. And I think that's why I became the spirit of the Element of Courage. He brought me back to life to save this world."

I took out my wand and turned to Twilight. "This wand you made me... It's the same wand. God just converted it into something extraordinary. A proper wand. This is a gift from him, as much as it is from you. You have my gratitude for making this wand for me. You always will."

Twilight smiled, and embraced me like friends do. "Don't mention it, Ben."

After we pulled away, everyone came up and formed another group hug, filling me with more joy than ever. I'm so glad this isn't one of my dreams. Besides, I know for a fact that this is the real thing. I live in Equestria now.

* * *

After we arrived in Ponyville again, I went with Twilight and Spike to the Golden Oak Library again. We had agreed that I would stay in Ponyville with Twilight while I was in Equestria. By the time we had arrived, the moon was in the sky, shining down on the planet below. Impressive that Celestia and Luna control the raising and lowering of the sun and moon.

Twilight and I headed upstairs to the beds, while Spike jumped into a basket nearby. "This dragon's had enough partying for one day. Time to hit the sack."

"Same here, Spike." I agreed. "Besides, I got some things to take care of tomorrow."

"You do?" Twilight asked as she got into her bed. "What things?"

"Well, there's getting my ship moved to this town for further repairs, getting a message to the General back home, and a couple other things, too. But until then..." I removed my hoodie, put my wand on the side-table, and got into my bed, preparing for some sleep.

"You know something, Twilight?" I said as I stared up at the ceiling. "I think I'm gonna learn to like it here. This place has a lot of things I wanna check out."

"Well, that's one of the first steps in adapting to a new home." She replied. "Learning the locations of certain places, and introducing yourself to the neighborhood. And I can help you with that tomorrow." She yawned a bit. "Anyway, see you in the morning, OK?"

"Same here, teacher." I responded as I turned over. I heard her chuckle a bit as she got into a comfortable sleeping position, and I began letting my awareness fade away.

At least, I _began_ to. Before I could fall into deep sleep, I heard a small noise that caused me to move my head up a bit. When I looked towards Twilight's bed, I saw that one of her wings had popped out from retraction, and stayed there while she remained sleeping. I refrained from laughing a bit. I guess she's still gotta practice with those things.

Meanwhile, I thought about what had happened in the past 48 hours. I know now that God brought me here for a reason. And a good reason at that. I'm so glad he gave me all this information. Now I just need to carry out my destiny, and continue my life in this new home. Still, that doesn't mean I'm staying here forever. I'm gonna have to head home someday. Even if I do head back to the 3rd Dimension, it won't be forever. Like I said to Celestia, I've got a new home to look after, and I'm gonna see to it that I do it properly.

My awareness began fading away again, and I let myself fall asleep with another final thought in my mind.

_Thank you..._

* * *

**Believe me, it doesn't end here. You see, I actually appear in this story a few days before the events of Equestria Girls, and continue from there. I'll see what I can do about the next episode. Until then, thanks for becoming part of this fantastic first step into Equestria's glory...**


	6. Tourist Attractions

**Note: Finally! Man, I _really _gotta take a break from Rayman Origins and get to work on these. But then again, I'm still saving up for Rayman Legends...**

Episode 6 - Tourist Attractions

* * *

My eyes creaked open to reveal daylight from the Library's window. I turned away to let my eyes conform to the light. When I had the ability to open them all the way, I looked around and smiled. I guess the Library looks just as great at the break of day. Feeling fully awake, I got up and looked towards Twilight's bed. Pillow and blanket, but no Alicorn. I turned to where Spike had slept. He was gone, too. Oh, well. They probably just got up early. Unless...

I looked at my wrist watch. 9:00 AM. OK, I didn't oversleep or anything. I took my wand and tucked it in the back of my shirt, thinking about what I needed to do. What should I get off my agenda first? Wait a minute. My wrist watch! I could contact the General! And I had it all along? What was I thinking?

I hit the Call button and waited for a response. If I could just get a signal, I could let him know where I am. It continued displaying the "Waiting for Response" status, but it didn't change. After about 20 seconds of waiting, I cancelled the call. Maybe that kind of contact is inaccessible from multiple universes. Or some kind of interference.

Does that mean I can't send a message to him from my ship's computer? Oh, never mind. I guess I'm gonna have to figure that out later. I still gotta take care of this unfinished business. What do I need to start with, though? Hmm... Oh! Maybe Twilight can help. She's usually an expert with this type of thing.

I made my way downstairs to find Twilight, and immediately saw her wearing a saddlebag, and holding a checklist with her magic. She immediately noticed me come down. "Oh! Hi, Ben! Sleep well?"

"Like a baby!" I replied.

"Good! Because we got a busy day ahead of us." She showed me the checklist. "I said I'd show you around Ponyville, so I made a list of all the main locations for us to visit."

"Really? Cool!" She actually made a list? She really _is _an expert!

"At least, if you're ready for it." She continued, showing no disappointment. "I'll understand if you've got something else planned."

"Actually, I don't really know what to get done first." I admitted. "Figured I'd turn to you for a suggestion. Besides, you're an organized type."

"Oh. Well, that's very thoughtful. Thanks." She turned back to the list. "So where do you wanna go first? Applejack's farm, maybe? That's the first place _I _went to when I came here."

"Sure!" I agreed. "I could use an apple, anyway."

"OK, then. Let me get Spike, and we'll get going." She began heading towards another door, but suddenly turned her head towards me again. "Make sure you have everything you need, OK?"

"Got it." So she left the room, and I put a hand to my chin, refreshing my memory. Let's see... I got my wand. Anything else? Oh, yeah. My jacket. I went upstairs again, and grabbed my hoodie from the hook on the wall, putting it on immediately. I was about to head down a second time, but before I could, I caught sight of the repair kit near my bed and stopped.

Just looking at it reminded me about my ship, and the condition it was in. That got me thinking. What if the ship is in a condition so bad, that I _can't _fix it? That I _can't _go back home? I suddenly thought about my family, and what they might be going through with me missing. I returned to them after 5 months just to leave them again for who-knows-how-long? By _His _command?

Hold on. He _did _say I'd learn more about the divorce in time. Does that mean I _will _return at some point? But... I still have to guard this world with my life. Wait. What if the wormhole begins to close at some point? Will I have to choose which world to stay in?

Finally coming to my senses, I shook my head. What the heck am I saying? I fixed over half my ship with magic! Sheesh. I really gotta stop predicting the worst like this. I'm not like that anymore. I'll be fine. All I gotta do is fix my ship, get a message sent to the General, and see to it that he tells my family I'm OK. Actually, there's gonna be a way-too-high chance he'll believe I'm in another dimension living among civilized horses. Where magic exists.

Oh, great. And there's _another _problem. How am I gonna explain my absence without sounding delusional? I couldn't just lie about it. What if I... Ugh! All this thinking is starting to give me a headache.

I sat down on my bed, and shook my head again, which was now throbbing a bit. Why _am _I thinking about this, anyway? If I was met by God, and given this mission from Him, then I'm pretty sure He knows what path He's leading me to. I gotta focus on the here and now. Not what _might_ happen. Besides, the odds of the worst possible thing happening to me right now are pretty much a million to 1.

"Hey, Ben! You ready?" I heard Twilight from downstairs. Oh, I almost forgot about that.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" I answered. I made my way downstairs where Twilight and Spike were. Twilight immediately noticed my jacket.

"Why are you wearing that?" She asked me. "It's Summer!"

"Don't worry. It's not for warmth." I assured her. "It's just my style. Besides, it's a really light coat, anyway."

"Well, if you say so." She turned to Spike. "Spike, the list."

He immediately took it out. "Right away, Princess."

This caused Twilight to chuckle a bit. "It's OK, Spike. You don't need to call me a princess, even if I am one. I'm still the same pony."

He responded by bowing in a royal manner, basically ignoring her. "My apologies, Prin- Uh, I mean Twilight." I snickered a bit, prompting Twilight to glance at me with a bit of annoyance, but still with a smile.

"Very funny, Ben." She turned back to Spike, and used her magic to put the list into her saddlebag. "Alright. Let's go!"

So we left the Library, and began walking through town, on the way to Applejack's.

* * *

As we continued through Ponyville, I noticed more townspeople were staring and pointing at me. But this time in amazement instead of confusion. I wasn't really bothered by it, though. After all that greeting from the party yesterday, I'm actually kinda used to it. Although, I'm a bit surprised that Twilight hasn't noticed them yet.

Wait a minute. She's a princess. Are they focused on her, too? I thought back on when I was walking through Ponyville with the others on the first day. Maybe I wasn't the only one attracting attention that day.

Then the civilians began muttering about us, and I could hear what they were saying as if they were talking normally.

"Is that who I think it is?"  
"Yeah. It's The Guardian! And he's with the new Princess!"  
"He saved Canterlot from those changelings, right?"  
"Yeah. What do you suppose he is?"  
"I don't know, but he's obviously not from Equestria. Maybe he's from another land, like Zecora."  
"Should we bow?"

"Hey, Twilight. Look." I stuck my thumb behind me, towards the onlooking townspeople. "We've got fans."

She looked towards the town residents, then turned back to her walking direction with her head lowered a bit. I noticed she was blushing a little.

Maybe that was a bad idea.

* * *

Before long, we made it to a large apple farm with a red barn, fields for planting, a chicken pen, and a _lot _of trees.

"Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres." Twilight introduced me. "One of the greatest apple farms in Equestria!"

"No kidding." I agreed. "They're all over the place!" Apple trees on the horizon were lined up and spread out to a great distance. Might as well be enough apples to feed everyone in Ponyville, if not Equestria.

"Suddenly, I have an urge to get an apple pie or something." I commented.

"You're telling me." Spike joined in. "They look delicious."

"And they taste just as good as they look!" A familiar voice chimed in. I turned to the right to see Applejack kicking an apple tree with her hind legs, causing the apples above to fall into the baskets surrounding the tree's base. Oh, _that's _what she meant by apple-bucking!

After she kicked the tree, she came walking over to us. "How you doin', partner? Gettin' to enjoy Ponyville?"

"Exactly!" I answered. "Twilight decided to give me a tour, and I figured I'd start with your place. And I can already see that it looks awesome!"

"Well, mighty respectable." Applejack said with commendation. "I'd be happy to show you around."

So she did. And I gotta say, there was a lot of stuff. She showed me the barn's interior, her house, the rest of the tree orchard, an apple cellar, and even the types of apples she had, which was pretty much _every _kind. She intended to introduce me to her younger sister, but apparently, she was at school.

"For city folk, it might not look like much. But it's home to the Apple Family!" Applejack said when the tour was finished.

"And it doesn't take a genius to know why." I agreed. "Speaking of apples, which one of these trees has Fuji again?"

"No need for that, actually." She walked over to a bucket and kicked it with her hind legs, causing a single red apple to fly into the air. "Catch!"

I immediately drew my wand, and caught it with a levitation spell, bringing it into my hand.

"Nice use of levitation, Ben." Twilight congratulated. I took a bite out of the apple, and quickly recognized its taste.

"That's a Fuji apple, alright!" I looked up at Applejack. "Nice one."

"Not too bad yourself, partner!" She returned.

"Thanks for giving him the tour, Applejack." Twilight added.

Applejack removed her hat and nodded. "Don't mention it, Princess."

"No need for that." Twilight reacted. "I'm still the Twilight everypony knows."

"With built-in wings, and a crown that you usually never wear." I joked. This actually caused both of them to laugh a little.

"Anyway, we gotta continue with the tour." Twilight took out the list from her saddlebag, and gave it to me. "Why don't you pick the next one?"

While eating the rest of my apple, I looked over the locations on the list. I quickly found a decent choice. "Why not Rarity's shop? We could pay her a visit."

"Alright." She took the list back, and turned around to another area. "Spike! We're going now!"

I turned to where she was looking to see Spike digging into one of the apple buckets. When he heard his name being called, he looked towards us with a large apple in his mouth. I put my hand to mine to keep from laughing. He actually looked kinda funny. I heard Twilight and Applejack snickering a bit, too.

When Spike came over to us, he tried saying something. But all that came out was muffled gibberish and spit. At that point, I just couldn't help myself. And neither could Twilight and Applejack. All 3 of us just started laughing to our heart's content. He looked hilarious! When we finally stopped, Spike took the apple out of his mouth, and looked at us in a confused way.

"What?" He asked. "It's just an apple."

* * *

Later, we were heading through town again, on the way to Rarity's place. Spike was riding Twilight's back, and Twilight and I had started a conversation about each of our homes.

"So, what exactly does your world have that we don't?" Twilight asked me.

I thought for a moment before answering. "Well, there's more advanced technology, for one thing... Um... Oh! And the weather changes on its own." I remembered the conversation I had with Twilight during the party. She told me about the pegasi's ability to move clouds for changing weather.

"You mean like the Everfree Forest?" She questioned, a bit surprised.

I raised an eyebrow. "The what?" She never mentioned a place like that.

"It's a place near Ponyville where everything grows and changes on its own." She explained. "Not really natural for a pony. It's actually kind of dangerous. Especially with the Timberwolves there." To emphasize her point, she took out a book from her bag, turned to a certain page, and showed it to me. A picture on the page displayed a green-eyed, wooden canine body.

"Oh, _that _kind of timber." Pretty impressive that it was made of wood and lived! "I thought it was a regular wolf."

"Well, technically it's a regular one from Equestria." Twilight reminded me. "What does a Timberwolf look like from your dimension?"

"Well, it obviously isn't made of wood." I replied. "It's got regular fur. And I think it lives in a cold climate."

"Ugh. Don't get me started on Timberwolves." Spike suddenly added. "I can't _stand _those things! If I ever see one again..." He shuddered.

"You were attacked by Timberwolves?!" I asked, surprised by what he said.

"Unfortunately." He answered. "I almost lost a hot air balloon during one of my days off. I ended up landing it in the Everfree Forest, right next to a pack of Timberwolves. If Applejack wasn't there to save me, I don't wanna know what would've happened to me."

"I probably don't wanna know, either." I agreed. "Anyway, let's keep going."

"Actually, we're already here." Twilight corrected me. Sure enough, I looked up, and there was a large, merry-go-round style building with detailed colors on its outside.

I was impressed by its outside beauty. "Wow. It really _is _a Carousel Boutique."

"Correction." Twilight told me. "_The _Carousel Boutique."

"Home to the most beautiful unicorn in Equestria." Spike commented in a love-struck way, causing me to raise another eyebrow.

"Spike has an obvious crush on Rarity." Twilight whispered to me.

"Oh." I mouthed.

"Come on. Let's go in." She motioned for me to follow her.

So we went through the door, and into the shop, which revealed a dressing room, a rack of hats and other clothes, and a set of mirrors on the right.

"Coming! Coming!" I heard someone from upstairs who began coming down, reacting to the bell that the door had triggered. None other than the shopkeeper herself.

Rarity immediately noticed us. "Oh. Greetings, Twilight. Spike. Benjamin. What brings you here?"

"A tour of the shop for Ben." Twilight answered.

"She's showing me around town." I rang in. "And she put your shop on the list."

"Very well, then. A tour you desire, a tour you shall receive." Rarity quickly accepted. "Come with me."

"Hi, Rarity..." Spike suddenly said in a swooning voice. I turned and saw him staring right at her, no sign of changing his expression.

I turned back to Rarity, whose cheeks were blushing. Honestly, I couldn't tell if she was flattered or embarrassed. Probably both. "I think we'd better get you out of his sight before he starts drooling."

I followed her up the stairs, where she brought me to another room with a bed, a few horse-shaped mannequins, some drawers of clothing material, and a large chest filled with gemstones.

"I take it this is where you work." I assumed.

"And sleep." She added. "This is where you'll probably find me if I'm not around town. It takes a lot of concentration when making a dress, you know. And I find that gems can really make my dresses stand out. I'm actually working on a tuxedo right now, but I can't quite put my hoof on what kind of gem would be best for it."

I looked at some of the dressed mannequins. "Well, from the looks of these dresses, I don't see how that would be hard. I'm no fashion critic, but this is coming from a guy who's only worn an outfit during Picture Day every year, so I don't usually see outfits this good. But if I did, they probably wouldn't amount to these ones. I'd say you're a natural when it comes to this kind of thing."

"Oh. Thank you." She responded to my compliment. "Anyway, I think we should get on with the-"

"_AAH!_" I suddenly felt a very sharp pain on my left leg. I looked down, and saw a white Persian cat furiously clinging to my leg with her claws. She was growling in a very aggressive way. "What the heck?!"

"Opal, _no!_" Rarity immediately used some of her magic to remove the angry feline from my leg, and put it on the bed. "That is not how we treat our guests. Do you understand?"

The cat meowed at her and curled up on the bed, while I shook my leg in pain. "Is that _your _cat?"

"I'm terribly sorry about that." She apologized. "She's usually very friendly. I guess she's not used to humans."

"No kidding." I agreed.

"Is your leg alright?" She asked me, concerned.

I rolled up my pants leg and looked at the wound. A few small claw marks, but no blood. "It's fine. Nothing serious. A bit itchy, though."

"What happened?" I turned to see Twilight at the doorway. She immediately noticed my leg, which was still revealing the scratch. "Oh my gosh. Are you OK?"

I rolled down the leg. "Don't worry, Twilight. Just an unexpected greeting from her cat."

"I won't need to use a pain-killer, will I?" She asked.

"'Tis but a scratch." I assured her in a funny way. I turned to Rarity afterwards. "Anyway, where were we?"

So she showed me the rest of her home. Everything she had was well-organized, like Twilight and her library. She had everything a regular person would need. A kitchen, a laundry room, stuff like that. And the entire time, Spike was trying to "help her out". I guess he was that emotional.

After the tour was done, Rarity led us back to the main room. "I do apologize if my tour was a bit short for your liking."

"No need, Rarity." I responded with a smile. "It's fine the way it is."

"Oh, good." She acknowledged. "Well, I've got work to do. You'd best continue your tour."

"Will do. Good luck with that tuxedo, OK?" I wished her.

"Thank you, Benjamin." She turned to Twilight. "Good luck with your new student, Twilight."

"Thanks, Rarity." Twilight turned to the door, and opened it with her magic. "Come on. I know just where to take us next."

* * *

Once again heading through town, I looked at the onlooking townspeople, who seemed to be growing in numbers. This is already starting to get old.

I turned to Twilight. "Is this crowd normal for people like us? I mean, we are part of the Royalty, but this seems a bit much."

"Well, princesses are used to it." But when she took a glimpse at the crowd, she lowered her head again. "Well, most of them."

"Still adjusting to the attention?" I asked, feeling a little bad for her.

"Well, it's just a minor thing, to be honest." Twilight responded. "I have a lot of duties as a princess, like teaching you about magic. But it's kinda hard to do them with a crowd following me around."

"Seems kind of insulting." I said in a slightly annoyed way. "It's like they're mocking you or something."

"Well, there's no need to think about it _that_ way." She told me. "They're just excited. Like I said, it's just a minor thing."

"Well, if you're sure." I took one last glance at the people nearby, then turned back. "So where are we going again?"

"I figured we could stop for a snack." She answered. "And what better place to do that than Sugarcube Corner?"

I looked up to find that we were right in front of a large bakery. By the looks of its exterior, I could tell there might be cake here. It actually looked like it was made of cake itself!

"Whoa! Nice detail." I complimented. "I have a hunch the food here is gonna be amazing."

"Take my word for it." Twilight replied. "Come on!"

When we went in, I was greeted by multiple features around the shop. An ordering desk, several tables, and a whole lot of cakes!

"Holy cow. This looks fantastic." I commented. "Now I'm wanting chocolate cake all of a sudden."

"I don't blame you. They're all delicious!" Twilight agreed.

"Oh! Hi, guys!" I heard a familiar voice. I turned and saw that Pinkie had come down the nearby flight of stairs. "Watcha doin'?"

"We stopped by for a snack." Twilight said. "Taking a break while I show him around Ponyville."

"You know, adapting to the environment." I added.

"Oh. Like my pet alligator." She revealed a small, green reptile clinging to her tail with its teeth. At least, if it actually _had _any.

"Um... That doesn't hurt, right?" I asked, just to be sure.

"Yeah. Gummy's got no teeth." She replied. "He's only playing."

Sure enough, the alligator let go, and began wandering around the shop.

"So! What does your sweet tooth fancy today?" Pinkie asked me.

I thought for a minute. "I've got something in mind..."

* * *

Later, all 4 of us were eating a certain set of cupcakes that I helped Pinkie bake. Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting on top, whipped cream in the center, and the bottom of the cupcakes were coated with a brown and flaky crust. S'mores cupcakes. It was my recommendation.

"Wow! I've never had these before!" Twilight said as she took another bite out of hers. "Where did you try these?"

"At my little brother's 6th birthday." I told her. "I helped my mom make them, and I know the entire recipe by heart. Tastes like Heaven to me."

"No kidding! Even _I _haven't tried making these kinds of cupcakes!" Pinkie admitted.

"You're welcome." I replied.

"This is almost as good as that sapphire cupcake I had for my birthday once." Spike said. "And that's saying something!"

"Sapphire cupcake?" I questioned. "You eat sapphires?"

"I eat _every _kind of gem!" He corrected. "To a dragon, a jewelry store would be an all-you-can-eat buffet!"

I remembered the chest of gems in Rarity's room. "Well, good thing Twilight kept you downstairs when we were at Rarity's. If you saw what was in that gem chest up there..."

Twilight and Pinkie laughed a bit, and Spike just shoved the rest of his cupcake into his mouth.

After I took a third bite out of mine, I thought about something, and turned to Pinkie. "Hey, do you own this store?"

"Nope." She quickly answered. "Mr and Mrs. Cake do. I just visit here often. Oh! That reminds me. I wanna show you something upstairs."

I got up from the table. "Lead the way, then."

So she brought me up to the second floor, and into a small room that revealed some small toys, a few stuffed animals, and a crib. Seeing it as some kind of nursery, I had a hunch on what Pinkie intended to show me.

"We have to be quiet, OK?" She whispered. "I put them to sleep a while ago."

Yep. I knew it.

When we both looked into the crib, I saw 2 small foals in it, sleeping next to each other. One was a white pegasus with brown hair, and the other was a yellow, orange-haired unicorn.

"It's the Cakes' babies." Pinkie stated quietly. "Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake. Aren't they adorable?"

The unicorn began sucking its hoof while sleeping, causing me to smile.

"Lemme guess. The yellow one's Pumpkin Cake." I spoke softly.

"Yep." She replied. "I like it better when they're awake though. I love playing with them."

"How old are they?" I asked.

"4 months each." She answered. "Oh. that also reminds me. When's your birthday?"

"Uh, December 18th." I responded. "Why?"

"Oh, just checking." She said. "As a party planner, it's my duty to know everypony, and everyone's birthday."

"Pinkie? Is that you?" I heard an unrecognizable voice coming from the door. I turned and saw a yellow Earth pony with orange hair, similar to Pumpkin Cake. He also had an apron, a bow tie, and a hat.

"Oh, hi Mr. Cake." Pinkie greeted in a regular voice, forgetting about the babies. I turned back to the crib to see if there was any disruption in their sleep. They moved a bit, but they didn't seem that bothered.

I turned back to see that Pinkie had walked into the hallway with Mr. Cake. So I tagged along while trying not to make any noise.

"Is this one of your friends, Pinkie?" Mr. Cake asked.

"Yep! He's new to Ponyville." She responded. "Twilight's showing him around."

His eyes widened. "The Princess is here?!"

"Yep! She's downstairs!" Pinkie stated. Oh, no...

"Oh my goodness! I'd better give her a proper greeting."

He attempted to head towards the stairs, but I stopped him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. She's not used to that kind of attention yet."

"But... Wouldn't it be rude not to greet Canterlot Royalty?" He asked.

"Just because she's part of the Royalty doesn't mean you need to fuss over her presence or anything." I assured him. "Just see her the way you used to. Besides, we've been stalked by people all day. It wouldn't help."

"Really? Well, if you put it that way..."

Suddenly, we were interrupted by giggling coming from the nursery. We all turned and saw Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake peeking out of the crib and trying to crawl out.

"Well, look at that." I reacted. "I guess we _did _wake 'em up."

"I got it." Mr. Cake went over to them and lifted them out of the crib, and onto the floor, where they began running around, looking for something to play with.

Afterwards, he came back to us. "Oh, I forgot to greet myself." He held his hoof out to me. "I'm Carrot Cake."

I shook it and returned a smile. "Ben Cooney. Nice bakery you got here."

"Well, thank you." He replied. "It's always nice to meet a-" He suddenly started chuckling a bit. So did Pinkie.

"What?" I asked while raising an eyebrow.

Pinkie took out a mirror and handed it to me while trying not to burst out laughing. I looked at the mirror, which reflected my face, and something on top of my head that wasn't meant to be there. Pumpkin Cake had somehow crawled up my body and onto my head! At that point, Pinkie just exploded with laughter, and I snickered a little.

"I think she likes you." Carrot Cake reacted.

I continued looking through the mirror, and at the baby unicorn on my head. At first, I thought it was really cute, but when she saw the handle of my wand sticking out of my shirt, that changed really quickly. Without warning, she suddenly grabbed the handle with her teeth, and began sucking it in her mouth.

"Wh- Hey, hey, hey! Don't do that! You're gonna-" I tried to warn her. But before I could take her off my head, the wand suddenly took effect, and a blast of magic shot out, and jolted me for a full 5 seconds, while Pumpkin Cake was left unfazed. When it was over, a good amount of damage had been done. I was black all over, first-degree burns were all over me, and I think my shirt might have caught fire. But, hey. At least I had been through worse.

"_Oh my goodness_!" Carrot Cake repeated as he took Pumpkin Cake off my singed head. "Are you OK?"

"Wow!" Pinkie commented. "Talk about 'shocking'!"

I just fell over and onto the floor.

"I was afraid something like that would happen." I said groggily.

"I'm so sorry about that." Carrot Cake apologized as he held Pumpkin Cake. "She has a habit of chewing on things."

I pushed myself up into a sitting position on the floor, and shook my head. Meanwhile, Pumpkin Cake started giggling at my indignant state.

"Pinkie, can you get Twilight?" I asked. "I think I'm gonna need a pain-killer..."

* * *

After recovering from the "Human torch" experience, Twilight, Spike and I were back outside, and on our way to the next tour location. This time, the schoolhouse.

"That was weird." Twilight suddenly commented.

"What, you mean at the bakery?" I questioned.

"Pretty much." She answered. "Who would have thought a baby could take control of magic that isn't even hers?"

"Actually, I think the wand just did that because it identified Pumpkin Cake as the wrong magic user." I responded.

"What do you mean?" She questioned.

"Well, remember that fantasy book I told you about before? The way magic in the story worked was a bit different from the way you use it. It was said that every user of magic needed a certain wand to wield their powers properly. It's a certain connection between the user and the wand. This is just a guess, but I think my wand and I have that kind of magic." I explained. "This wand is kind of... alive, in a way. It has the ability to identify whether I'm the one wielding it or not. When Pumpkin Cake tried chewing its handle, it assumed that it was being wielded. By the wrong user. So, it fired a bolt of magic as a sort of defense mechanism. Actually, now that I think about it, it's kind of a _good_ thing it hit me instead."

Spike began snickering a bit. "You gotta admit, though. You looked hilarious."

"I looked like charcoal." I said in a confused and annoyed manner.

"Exactly!" Spike laughed.

I just rolled my eyes and continued walking.

* * *

We quickly made it to a red building, kind of similar to Applejack's farm. But its color was lighter, and it had a bell hanging on the rooftop. Speaking of which, the bell suddenly rang, and some kids began running out of the door of the building, and towards the playground nearby.

"Strange." I turned my thoughts into words.

"What?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, sorry. Just thinking." I replied. "It's just that where I'm from, the school year ends when Summer comes around. Summer vacation."

"Actually, that's what we do here, too." She corrected. "This is actually the last day of school for them."

We continued towards the school building until we made it to the front porch.

"Wait here." Twilight told me. "I'll get Miss Cheerilee. She can tell you about her students. I'm sure she'll be glad to see you."

She walked in with Spike on her back, and I leaned against the wall, waiting for her return.

"I bet she will, too." I said to no one in particular. I was really starting to feel at home here. I guess it _was_ a good idea to get this off my list first.

As I waited, I looked towards the playground, and caught sight of 3 specific kids that were a bit closer to me. One was bright yellow with a red bow on her head, and had no wings or horn. The second one was a white unicorn with purple and pink hair, and the last one was a pegasus with purplish hair, which differed from her orange skin. I don't know why, but they looked like they were gonna try diving or something. They were each wearing a pair of goggles and a snorkel.

"Man, I can't wait until school is over today!" The unicorn said excitedly. "This is it. The day we finally get our cutie marks!"

"In sea exploration!" The yellow one gleefully stated, whose accent was a bit similar to Applejack's.

Sea exploration, huh? Well, I guess that explains the equipment.

"At least, if we can find an ocean nearby." The pegasus noted. "But I don't see how that should be hard. Anyway, where could we put this diving equipment for safe-keeping?"

"Why don't we ask Miss Cheerilee?" The unicorn suggested.

"Well, well, well." A voice interrupted them. "If it isn't the blank flanks."

2 other kids, presumably both female, came towards them with smug looks on their faces. Neither one of them had wings or a horn, but I could somehow tell they were fashionable types, due to the accessories they were wearing. The first one was pink with purple and white hair, and also had a metal tiara on her head that matched her cutie mark. Number 2 had glasses, gray skin, and a silverish mane. I also noticed the glasses and pearls she was wearing. They didn't match her spoon cutie mark, though.

"Oh, for pony's sake!" The orange pegasus yelled, sounding completely agitated. "Will you 2 quit it already?!"

"Quit what?" The gray one asked mockingly. "Pointing out who you really are?"

I didn't know what they were doing, but I was starting to dislike their attitude. Reminded me of-

"Can't you just give the insultin' a rest?" The yellow Earth pony asked, trying to reason with them. "There isn't even any point to it."

"Well, of course there is." The pink one counteracted. "It's fun watching you realize how pathetic you are!"

_What? _Is she even listening to herself?!

"We're not pathetic!" The unicorn fought back. "We're just... well..." She was having trouble finding a word for it.

"Exactly!" The pink one emphasized. "There's no other way to describe you. And your cutie marks represent that. Oh, that's right, I forgot. You don't even _have _any! _Blank flanks!_"

The duo of kids began laughing, while the trio just hung their heads. That immediately triggered me to come walking over with my blood boiling through my veins, and my teeth clenched with pure hate. I may not know those 3, but I _do _know that I can't just sit back and let those 2 brats get away with what they're doing. When I got close enough, I drew my wand, fired levitation at the duo, and held them in the air, immediately interrupting their laughter, and getting the attention of the other 3.

"_What do you 2 think you're doing?_" I questioned them with fury.

At first they were surprised, but their expressions quickly changed to un-amused confusion.

"What's it matter to _you_?" The pink one asked in a snobby way. "And while I'm at it, what _are_ you?"

"I don't think that's for you to know, is it?" I remarked. "Why don't you 2 just walk away, and leave these 3 alone? Like they _asked_ you to?"

"Well, it's kind of hard to when you're holding us in the air." The gray one commented. Hearing this, I sent her an enraged look that shut her up immediately.

"So you 2 think you actually have a _right _to mess with them?" I asked. "You got a problem with these 3?"

"Well, can't you see?" The pink one asked as she directed towards them. "They've got no cutie marks! They're obviously not special or anything."

"That is wrong on so many levels!" I retorted. "I've been around here long enough to know that everyone is special in his or her own way. So what if they don't have cutie marks yet? Look at yours. A metal crown and a gray utensil. I don't know what kind of talents they represent, but at least you _have _yours! They're right, you know. There _isn't _any point in bugging them. Taking advantage of someone by rubbing in the fact that they don't have something that you do is wrong in every way! And don't you forget it!"

"That's Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to you!" She shot back.

I put them back on the ground.

"I don't care what your names are." I replied. "All I care about right now is you minding your own business, and getting out of their faces. So unless your talents are being complete jerks to everyone your age, you'd better leave. Or I'm getting your teacher!"

"Fine!" They said obnoxiously. They turned around and headed towards the playground.

"And don't let me catch you bothering them again!" I warned as I put my wand back in my shirt.

"Whoa..." The pegasus reacted.

"Pint-sized snobs." I muttered under my breath. I turned around to the trio, and kneeled down to them. "You OK?"

"That was _awesome_!" The pegasus cried out in amazement. "You_ totally_ gave them a piece of your mind!"

"I would have done more than that if they were older." I corrected. "They're lucky I didn't have the nerve to send them flying."

"Well, either way, thanks." The unicorn replied. "Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are always trying to make us feel bad."

"And we don't know why!" The Earth pony added. "They just do it for kicks! Every time we get near 'em it's 'blank flanks' all over again."

"You mean you haven't told a teacher about it?" I questioned. "Why?"

"Well..." The unicorn began. "If we do that, they'll just keep on bothering us as payback."

"Actually, that's not true at all." I told them. "If you keep letting them bug you without telling anyone about it, they're gonna see that as an invitation to do it non-stop. You have to turn them in, or it's just gonna get worse. Besides, you never have to be afraid to do what's right."

"Are you sure?" They asked all at once.

"Of course." I assured them. "It's something I learned, too."

We were suddenly interrupted by Twilight's appearance at the porch. She was accompanied by a purple-pinkish Earth pony, who I assumed was Miss Cheerilee.

"Ben? What are you doing?" Twilight questioned.

I just turned to the Earth pony with her. "You're Miss Cheerilee?"

"Yes. Why?" She asked.

"These 3 have something to tell you." I responded. I figured I could put the kids to the test and see if they'd take my advice.

"They haven't gotten in trouble, have they?" Miss Cheerilee clarified worriedly.

"No, it's nothing like that." I assured her. "Just something they need to confess."

I glanced at the trio, who looked at their teacher, and began to speak up.

"The thing is..." The pegasus started hesitantly. "We've been bullied for a long time at school, and we've never told you."

"Bullied? By who?" Miss Cheerilee questioned, concerned for them.

"Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon." The unicorn answered.

"They won't stop makin' fun of us about our blank flanks." The Earth pony continued. "We didn't wanna let you know because..."

"We thought it would just make the teasing worse." The pegasus carried on. "So we kept our mouths shut."

"But this feller here told us otherwise." The Earth pony directed towards me. "So we decided to tell you now."

"Well, I'm glad you did." Miss Cheerilee told them as she came walking over. "But you should have come to me sooner."

"We know." they said in unison. "We're sorry, Miss Cheerilee."

"No need to be sorry, girls." Miss Cheerilee reassured them. She then turned to me. "I don't know what you told them, but thank you."

"I'm just a guy doing what I can to help out." I replied.

"Now, about Diamond Tiara and Silver spoon..." She continued. "I'm gonna need to tell their fathers about this." She began walking towards the playground, probably to round up the 2 troublemakers. But she was suddenly interrupted.

"Wait a minute!" The unicorn piped up.

When Miss Cheerilee turned around, the 3 kids came up to her, and held up their scuba gear.

"Can you hold onto these until school's out?" The unicorn asked innocently.

Their teacher chuckled a bit. "Of course. I was wondering why you had those, actually." She took the goggles and snorkels, and put them in a bunker door next to the school building. Afterwards, she continued to the playground.

While she was doing that, Twilight came up to me. "I don't know what you said to these 3 either, but I _do_ know that it was the right thing. Telling somepony to stand up for themselves when they're in doubt is definitely something that connects with your personality and good heart. And your Element of Harmony. Great job, Ben."

I rubbed the back of my head, flattered by her congratulation. "Thanks, Twilight."

"No. Thank _you_!" The kids responded at the same time as they trotted to us.

They each held out their hooves for shaking. "I'm Apple Bloom!" The Earth pony greeted. Oh, yeah. Applejack's sister!

"My name is Sweetie Belle!" the unicorn introduced.

"Scootaloo's the name!" The pegasus addressed herself.

"And we're The Cutie Mark Crusaders!" They all said at once.

I shook each of their hooves. "Ben Cooney."

"Nice name!" They all responded cheerfully.

"Hey, look!" Sweetie Belle pointed to Twilight. "Twilight's got wings!"

"Cool! You're a princess!" Scootaloo shared the astonishment.

"And my new magic teacher." I added.

"Really?" Apple Bloom asked in surprise. "Wow!"

"Hey. Where are you from?" Scootaloo asked me. "Not to be rude, but you don't look like you were a member of Ponyville before."

"Actually, Ben's from a different world altogether!" Twilight answered for me. "He's proven to be a good student so far."

I just smiled. "I dunno. That's kinda stretching the truth."

"Come on, Ben. You don't need to get too modest." She assured me. "You gotta take at least a _bit_ of pride. Besides, I learned that before I even became an Alicorn."

"Well, it's not like I'm gonna start bragging or anything." I replied.

"Well, it's been great meeting you, but we gotta go." Scootaloo told me. "Come on, girls! We've got a last day of school to finish."

She, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom all held up one hoof in the air, and clapped them together as a certain type of high 5. "Cutie Mark Crusaders, ho!"

Then they all ran to the playground, while Miss Cheerilee came back over to us with a sulking Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon in tow. Diamond sent me an incredibly angry look that screamed "You'll pay for this". When she did that, I countered it with a calm smirk, and pointed at my eyes with 2 fingers, then one finger at her, as a silent way of saying "I'm watching you".

"I never really trusted those 2 either." Spike confessed when Cheerilee led them into the school building. "Honestly, all they seem to care about is themselves."

"Well, never mind those 2. Maybe some day they'll learn to be more considerate." Twilight said. "Anyway, you've obviously seen the school. On with the tour."

* * *

"So, a cutie mark has to be _earned?_" I asked Twilight on the way to Fluttershy's home. "It doesn't just show up on its own?"

"Yeah. It appears when a certain pony finds their true talent, and who they're meant to be." She explained.

"Hm." I remembered what Twilight said about the day she got hers, and becoming Celestia's student.

"Hey. Remember what you told us about your golden pin glowing near that store back in your dimension?" She questioned.

"Why wouldn't I? That's the first thing I saw that might have related to my magic." I replied.

"Exactly! The way you described it, I have a feeling that incident might have something to do with you gaining your powers." She pointed out. "I mean, if a human like you doesn't originally have magic, then you'd probably have to obtain it somehow. Of course, that's just a guess, but it seems like the best way to describe it."

I thought back on the incident, remembering what I said to Alice...

"_Alice, when I tell you to, run!_"  
"_What about you? You won't stand a chance against these guys!_"  
"_Don't worry about me! Just get out of here when I say!_"

I devoted myself to protecting my sister at the cost of my health. At least, that's what would have happened if my pin hadn't started taking effect. Maybe that act of bravery and sacrifice is what triggered it. Maybe that's what created the birth of my powers. I do represent the Element of Courage, after all. But why was my badge involved with it? And why did it turn into the 7th Element?

Suddenly, I began hearing a sound from above, similar to an M404 PI missile plummeting towards the ground.

"What's that noise?" Twilight asked, also aware of it.

I looked up, and caught sight of a familiar rainbow-colored pegasus streaking towards our direction, showing no intention of stopping. Or no capability.

"_Incoming_!" Rainbow Dash called for us as she continued to rapidly decreased distance from us.

"Hit the deck!" I shouted as I jumped towards Twilight, grabbing her, and forcing both of us to the ground, away from Rainbow's crashing point.

After the dust and dirt faded away from her crash, I got up and looked down at the pegasus-shaped hole in the ground. It was so black, it actually seemed bottomless. Nonetheless, Rainbow came out of it with dirt all over her, and her hair completely messed up. And yet, she seemed unfazed by it.

She removed herself from the crater, and shook her head, fixing her mane instantly. Then she looked at the crater with annoyance. "Great. _Another _part of town I gotta pave up. That's the 10th time today!" She turned around, and noticed me with Twilight. "Oh, hey Ben! What's up?"

"Well, aside from you almost sending us 30 feet into the ground, nothing but a tour." I replied frankly.

"Nice save." Twilight commended me as she got up, with Spike getting on his feet as well. Good thing I ended up getting him out of the way, too.

"Sorry about that." Rainbow apologized. "Apparently, my new flying trick isn't gonna be quite as easy as I thought. Especially with the mess I'm making."

She wasn't kidding. I looked to where she was pointing her hoof to see even more craters around the town square.

"How come I didn't see those before?" I asked.

"Well, she has her ways." Twilight answered.

"So, you're giving him a tour?" Rainbow asked Twilight. "Cool. At least, for eggheads. Heh heh."

Egghead? What?

"Rainbow, I told you. I'm not an egghead." Twilight reacted. "I just read, OK? Besides, you do, too."

"Yeah, but not excessively." Rainbow replied.

"Then why did I see you read Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone while flying through Ponyville a week ago?" Twilight countered.

"At the same time?" I asked, dumbstruck by the thought. "I thought you said flying takes concentration! But reading a book, too?"

"I said it takes focus when you're training." Rainbow corrected. "Which reminds me." She turned to Twilight again. "I'm gonna need to teach you how to start flying soon. You gotta exercise those wings, especially since the Summer Sun Celebration is coming up in a few weeks."

"Oh my gosh, you're right!" Twilight agreed. "I totally forgot about that."

"The what-now?" I questioned, unaware of that kind of festivity.

"The Summer Sun Celebration." Twilight told me. "It's where we celebrate the longest day of the year by watching Princess Celestia and Princess Luna lower the moon and raise the sun. But now that _I'm_ a princess, I have to do a part in the performance, too. But I haven't practiced at all!"

"Oh, man." I expressed, a bit worried. "Maybe it was a bad idea to give me a tour today."

"After all you've done so far? Of course not." Twilight assured me. "This is just something I'll have to get done soon." She turned to Rainbow. "Thanks for reminding me, though."

"Don't mention it." Rainbow responded. "Anyway, call me when you're ready to start training, OK? I gotta get back to practicing my new trick..."

But before she took off, a sand-colored Earth pony with a white and greenish tuxedo collar stopped her, and handed her a bucket of dirt with some gardening tools, along with an annoyed glare. Well, not really "handed", but you know what I mean.

Seeing this, Rainbow took the bucket and tools indignantly, and extended her sentence. "...right after I clean up the town square."

She began putting dirt into the hole closest to us, while Twilight, Spike and I left the scenery, and continued into a path through a small forest.

* * *

It only took 2 minutes of walking before Fluttershy's home came into plain sight. I know the exteriors of the previous locations were cool, but in nature's case, this was something else. Windows and birdhouses covered the cottage, and the rest of the outside vicinity, animals of all kinds currently being fed by Fluttershy, and the roof of the house was covered with greenery. Unless the roof _was _the greenery.

When we crossed the small bridge, Fluttershy took notice of us. "Oh. Hello, Twilight. Hi, Ben. Hey, Spike. What are you doing here?"

"Just paying a visit." I said. "Got time to show me around?"

"Of course. Let me just finish feeding these bunnies, and we can get started." She told me.

"Could I help out?" I asked.

"Are you sure about that?" Twilight questioned.

"Of course. My sister taught me how to." I responded. "She does volunteer work at the pet store where I'm from. You have no idea how much she loves animals."

"As much as me, maybe?" Fluttershy guessed.

"Right on the money." I replied. "Only difference between you and her, she's not as nervous, and she can't talk to animals like you. Uh, no offense on the nervous part."

"None taken." She assured me. "Anyway, if you're sure you want to feed them, then come here and hold out your hand."

When I did so, she poured some rabbit food into my right hand, and brought me over to the rabbits. "Be careful. You need to be gentle. Don't wanna scare them, OK?"

"Don't worry." I kneeled down and carefully held out the food. When I did, a few of the rabbits came over, and sniffed the food. They looked up at me cautiously, but after a few seconds, they finally began nibbling on the food.

It didn't take long for them to finish all the food in my hand. Well, except for some of the smaller bits stuck on my fingers. After they left and began wandering around, I got back up and turned to Fluttershy, who returned a congratulating smile.

"You're very good at this." She complimented. "Your sister must have taught you really well."

I just smiled and shrugged, still maintaining my modesty. Suddenly, I felt a pinch on my right index finger. It wasn't as painful as a cat scratch, but it was a bit tight. When I pulled it up, I saw that one of the white rabbits had grabbed ahold of my food-coated finger with its teeth. Hm. It's like I'm a claw and teeth magnet today.

"Oh my goodness." Fluttershy said as she removed the rabbit from my finger. "Come on now, Angel. You know better than that. You need to wait your turn, alright?"

The rabbit just nodded, and scampered off, while I looked at my finger. No bite marks, but my finger was a bit purple. At least for about 2 seconds.

"Is your finger OK?" Fluttershy asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I replied. "Now, about your house..."

So she brought me to the inside her home, which revealed even more birdhouses, a couch, and even some animal beds.

"Whoa. First cat ladies, now everything ladies." I complimented. "Nice woodwork, too."

She actually blushed after hearing my admiration. "Thanks."

"And she looks after the animals really well." Twilight told me. "I should know. She pet-sat Owlowiscious for me once."

"Oh, really? Nice." Although, to be honest, I'd never seen her owl before. At least, I assumed it was an owl based on the name. Actually... I _do _remember seeing a few brown feathers around the Library before.

"Do people visit here often?" I asked Fluttershy.

"Well..." She thought for a minute. "Not all the time. Sometimes Discord visits, though."

"Discord?" I questioned, unaware of that name.

"He's a Draconequus." Twilight answered for me. "And he's also the Spirit of Chaos. He's given us a lot of trouble in the past. At least, before Fluttershy reformed him for good. Sort of."

"What do you mean, 'sort of'?" I asked. "He's either reformed, or he isn't."

"Well, he is on our side, but not many of us trust him that much." Twilight explained. "He can be a bit unpredictable."

"But he can be a real sweetheart once you get to know him." Fluttershy countered. "Besides, there's good in him. There's usually good in everyone."

"Not counting the changelings." I noted. "I swear, if they _ever _show their disgusting faces here again... especially the Queen..."

"No need to go crazy, Ben." Twilight assured me. "You already took care of them, anyway."

"I know. But I'm a bit worried." I confessed. "Sometimes I have thoughts about their possible return. And if they _do _come back, they'll probably be in bigger numbers than before. They could take all of us hostage. And then where would we be? Besides, I've got concern for the safety of you and the others. You accepted me into this world as if I were one of you. You aren't just friends to me. You're like a second family altogether."

Twilight smiled. "That's the Magic of Friendship. Besides, you _are _one of us, Ben. Don't think otherwise just because you're different. That's what makes you special."

"And I'll see to it that I don't forget that for a long time." I replied.

"Well, I appreciate you stopping by." Fluttershy told us. "But I still have to give Angel a bubble bath. He's really persistent about it." I could see the rabbit tap her hoof repeatedly, wearing a shower cap.

"Obviously." I agreed. "Anyway, thanks for showing me the house. It's a really nice place."

"Well, then I hope to see you again soon, Ben." She said before turning to Twilight. "You too, Twilight."

"Same here, Fluttershy." Twilight responded. "Come on, Ben. I think it's time we get some lunch."

* * *

We stopped by a pizza place in town, but for some reason, we didn't sit down. At first I thought this would be a take-out so Twilight could get away from the bowing crowd. But then we went up to the ordering desk, where I heard something from Twilight that sounded a bit off.

Twilight took out a medium-sized sack of coins from her saddlebag. "I'll take 10 regular hay pizzas, please."

10?!

"Oh, wait. Actually..." She turned to me. "You don't eat hay on your pizza, do you?"

"Uh... no." I replied frankly. "Usually, I just do cheese or pepperoni."

"Pepperoni?" Twilight asked, as if she didn't know about that topping.

I suddenly remembered. She _didn't_! Horses are vegetarians! Oh, snap!

"Uh, I mean just cheese. Sorry." I corrected myself.

She turned back to the clerk. "Make that 9 hay pizzas, and 1 cheese." While her back was turned, I breathed a sigh of relief. Whew! Disaster averted.

"Are you sure you need that many, Princess?" The clerk asked. I was probably gonna ask the same thing.

Twilight glanced back at me, then whispered something in the clerk's ear.

"Oh, of course!" The clerk replied. She then trotted into the kitchen. "I need 9 hay pizzas, and 1 cheese for Princess Twilight!"

"10 pizzas? For the Princess?" A voice replied with disbelief.

"Yes, you heard me right!" The clerk said. "We need them out here pronto!"

Hm. I guess being part of the Royalty _does _have some upsides.

* * *

"So, why 10 pizzas again?" I questioned Twilight as we were walking through town again.

"We've gone to all the main locations on the checklist." She replied as she held the pizza boxes with her magic. "So, we're heading back to the library with these to celebrate."

"But we can't eat _all _of them." I said as we walked through the door and into the library, which was pitch-black for some reason. I couldn't see a thing.

"I know." Twilight answered in the dark. "That's why we took the liberty of preparing something for you..."

I heard magic being used, and suddenly realized Twilight had teleported.

"We?" I asked.

Suddenly, a light appeared from above, and revealed my body, which I couldn't see before. Aside from that, everything around me was still black. There wasn't even light coming from the windows.

Then I heard music being played, along with Twilight's singing voice.

_My little pony, my little pony_

_What is friendship all about?_

The spotlight above me began changing into multiple colors. What's going on?

_My little pony, my little pony_

_Friendship is magic!_

All of a sudden, multiple colored spotlights turned on, revealing Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy, who began singing to the music, which had increased into a faster pace.

_My little pony_

_I used to wonder what friendship could be, _Twilight sang alone, while the rest of the girls began singing in a chorus.

_My little pony_

_Until you all shared its magic with me_

Twilight came up to me as she sang.

_When I was young, I was too busy to make any friends_

_Such silliness did not seem worth the effort it expends_

The others joined her.

_But my little ponies, you opened up my eyes_

_And now the truth is crystal clear, as splendid summer skies_

_And it's such a wonderful surprise! _Several sparks of magic began flying around the scenery, and I began tapping my foot to the music.

_My little pony_

___I used to wonder what friendship could be_

___My little pony_

___Until you all shared its magic with me_

___When danger makes me wanna hide, you'll Rainbow Dash to my side_  


Rainbow flew up and threw multiple punches in midair before winking at me.

_Kindness is never in short supply, once smitten twice Fluttershy_

Fluttershy walked over to Rainbow and nodded at me.

_For honesty no pony can deny, you are the Applejack of my eye_

Applejack came up and put her left front hoof in front of the other, and winked like Rainbow did.

_A heart that shines so beautiful, a Rarity to come by_

Rarity joined the other 3 and whipped her hair.

_And you all make fun and laughter..._

Pinkie suddenly jumped from out of nowhere, and joined the group with a party cannon.

_...as easy as Pinkie Pie!_

All 5 of them began singing the chorus again.

_My little pony_

_I used to wonder what friendship could be_

_My little pony_

_Until you all shared its magic with me_

The sparks of magic vanished, and Twilight appeared before me again, putting a hoof on my shoulder. I don't know what's going on, but I kinda like it.

_Our friendship's magic, and it's growing all the time_

_A new adventure waits for us each day as yours and mine_

_We'll make it special every time, we'll make it special every time! _At this point, I began dancing a little to the music.

_My little pony_

_I used to wonder what friendship could be_

_My little pony_

_Until you all shared its magic with me_

Rainbow joined. _Big adventure,_

Then Pinkie. _Tons of fun,_

Rarity. _A beautiful heart,_

Applejack. _Faithful and strong,_

Fluttershy. _Sharing kindness,_

I couldn't help but join in at that point. _Courage can't be beat,_

At that point, we all sang in unison as Twilight joined.

_And magic makes it all complete!_

_My little pony_

_What a wonderful wonder friendship brings,_

_My little pony_

_Do you know you're all my very best friends_

_You're my very best friends,_

_You're my very best friends_

Suddenly, everyone disappeared, and I was alone again.

_You're my very best..._

Then all the lights came on, revealing everyone in town, a bunch of food, and music speakers playing music.

_...Frieeeeennnds!_

When the music ended, everyone in the library gave me a proper greeting by holding up a sign that said what they all shouted.

"_Welcome to Ponyville, Benjamin!_"

I couldn't help but smile with joy and surprise. Twilight stood in front of all of them, and me. So I took the opportunity to embrace her as a way of thanking her. At first she was surprised by my move, but she soon hugged back.

Pinkie suddenly came up to us. "I told you I'd give you a welcome party! But since you're also new to Equestria, I figured I'd increase the fun!"

"Well, it sure looks like it!" I agreed, observing the party again. "2 parties in one week? For a guy like me, that's saying something."

"In that case, let's party!" Pinkie shouted.

From there, we partied like there was no tomorrow. And it wasn't just food and music. There were several gifts for me, too. At least one from every member of Ponyville. In fact, the only 2 that _weren't _here were Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

But there was one gift from Twilight that left me in complete amazement. Apparently, while I was sleeping, she had woken up early, and used her magic to fix my ship, _and _bring it to Ponyville! All the way from Canterlot! I don't know how, but I was _definitely _grateful for it. Just like the day she made my wand.

In the time I enjoyed the party, I also learned a lot of stuff. I learned about the Sonic Rainboom from Rainbow Dash, I learned that Sweetie Belle was actually Rarity's sister, and I even learned _more _spells from Twilight's other gift. My own personal magic book. Pretty soon, I learned how to travel through walls, how to walk in midair, and I won't even mention the pain-killer Twilight taught me on her own.

A second party after one yesterday might seem a bit repetitive, but like a good game sequel, they basically took everything awesome from the Canterlot party, and astonished me all over again. Another experience to remember. I don't know how the time passed by so easily, but by the time the party was over, it was at least 6:00 PM. Thanks to Pinkie, and all the activities she had for us. Once everyone had left, and everything had been cleaned up, Twilight and I had finally settled down at the library.

* * *

I stood out on the library balcony and stared at the town below. I breathed in the air of the calm evening sky, and looked at my wrist watch again. 8:00 PM. I guess we're gonna need to get ready for the next day soon.

Twilight suddenly came up from behind me, and joined me on the balcony without a word.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" I said to her. "There's something about this world that's just so... magical."

"I know." Twilight agreed. "Sometimes I read on this balcony so I can take a quick look at the town every so often."

"Yeah. This place just makes you feel at home." I replied. "It actually makes you feel like you're already home."

"Reminds me of Canterlot." She said. "Actually, it's kind of strange. I never really cared about friendship before. I was too into magic. And reading. And reading about magic." She laughed a bit. "But when I came here... My entire life changed into something greater."

I smiled. "That's what happened with me, too. But I never thought it would mean gaining a new power." I drew my wand and looked at it. It was silently emitting small blue sparks that slowly dropped to the floor, and evaporated.

"Well, that's one of the many benefits of Equestria." Twilight told me. "Then again, your world has its benefits as well. More technology, as you said."

"Speaking of technology..." I took off my wrist watch, and put it in my left coat pocket. "I'm putting this away for now. Besides, I gotta do a quick inspection on my ship tomorrow before trying to send a message to everyone back home."

"Are you sure?" She asked me. "I mean, I _did_ fix it already. Wouldn't that be a bit excessive?"

"You can never be too careful." I told her.

"Well, OK." She responded. "But for now, I think it's time we get some sleep."

So the 2 of us went back into the library, and to our beds. I put my coat on the hook, kicked my shoes off, and my wand on the table, like before. When I got into my bed, I felt the warmth of the blanket as it covered me, while Twilight did the same.

"So aside from inspecting your ship, what should we do tomorrow?" Twilight asked me as we both stared up at the roof.

"No idea." I said. "But I get a feeling that we'll find something. There's a world of possibilities."

"You're right there." She agreed. "Anyway, see you tomorrow, OK?"

"Alright."

With that, I closed my eyes, and prepared for the trip to whatever dream might lay ahead.


	7. A Minor Setback

**Alex The Lone Wolf? If you're reading this, please don't think I'm stealing your organized way of writing a FanFiction, and answering to reviews. I'm just inspired to carry out your "tradition".**

**blackclaw: What?**

**Spookywonky: Thanks. And don't worry about the pack/herd grammar problem. That's taken care of.**

**FaUn-Huh: Well, I'm glad you enjoy it, but I'm afraid the religion in this story is gonna be a pretty vital part. But not in the way you think. You'll just find out for yourself.**

**KingTobi: You have no idea how glad I am to see a review as good as yours.**

**Note: I'm really starting to get into this. I would have gotten this one done sooner, but I was at Dad's place without a laptop, and I've been distracted with Rayman Legends. And while I'm here, if you noticed my profile description, you'll see several songs and soundtracks that have caught my interest, with one being my personal theme song for this story. You can copy and paste the links to see if they catch your interest, too.**

**If you want to post multiple reviews, I can respond to each of them. Maybe even get a conversation going.**

**And as a special treat to you followers, I tricked out the first chapter to give it a sort of remastered intro. Take a look!**

**I know, this is a lot to say for a regular note. But I feel I should inform you fans about _everything. _Like this.  
Remember at the end of Chapter 5 when I said I appeared in the story a week before Equestria Girls. Well, I changed that to a few days, because I just can't make that many episodes before the "Mane" event. And I'm too excited for that part, anyway. So I hope you enjoy this chapter while you wait!**

**By the way, the song I sing here is a tricked out version of Life Less Ordinary from Leaf Coober, which, believe it or not, was heard in the beginning of the Curious George 2 movie. Don't judge me, I didn't actually watch that movie. But it's a really good song...**

Episode 7 - A Minor Setback

* * *

_Congratulations, Twilight. I knew you could do it._

_Princess... I don't understand. What did I do?  
_

_You did something today that's never been done before. Something that even a great unicorn like Star Swirl the Bearded was not able to do, because he did not understand friendship like you do. The lessons you've learned in Ponyville have taught you well. You have proven that you are ready, Twilight._

_Ready? Ready or what?_

* * *

I woke up quickly and sat up, recalling what had just happened. Another one? Really? This vision thing was already starting to get old, but now I'm reliving _Twilight's_ past? Or am I? Looked like she and Celestia were in space or something. But that's... Wait... Actually, I guess it _could _be possible with the right kind of magic.

But if it _was _Twilight's past, then why? Come to think of it, why didn't she have wings during that dream? Was that a time before she became an Alicorn? And what did Celestia have that book for?

I get a feeling I'm gonna need to talk to Twilight about this later...

I got onto my feet and looked towards Twilight's bed. She was there this time, but still asleep. And the sunlight didn't seem as bright as it did when I got up yesterday. Looks like I've woken up early for once.

Just to be sure, I went over to my coat on the wall, and took my wrist watch out of the left pocket. Oh, wow. 7:30 AM. Didn't expect to be up _that _early on my own. Usually, I depended on the Academy's alarm to get me out of bed. Oh, well. Maybe I can get a headstart on checking my ship. No, wait. Not before eating something.

I put my coat and shoes on after placing the watch back, and went into the kitchen downstairs to find some breakfast. Searching the cupboards, I didn't really find much, aside from a box of "Hay cereal", and some other basic food ingredients, like eggs and flour. I was actually considering trying the cereal, seeing no other option. But then I caught sight of Applejack's gift from the party yesterday. A large bowl of Fuji apples. I forgot all about that.

So without hesitating, I took one of the apples and went outside.

* * *

I sat on a bench close to the library, and bit into the apple. When I looked around, I quickly noticed that no one else was out here in the warm light of daybreak. The only things that accompanied me were the peaceful silence, and the soft morning breeze. As I continued eating the apple, I had another recap of the recent events that had occurred in the past 3 days.

So I've discovered and saved an alternate version of my home, and learned to live in this town even though I haven't even been here that long. Not to mention that awesome greeting they gave me yesterday.

But at the same time, I've left my family. Again. But this time, I don't know when I'll return. And it's probably not my choice either. Like before, I've got a huge assignment on my hands. But it doesn't have anything to do with my family. Now it involves me, and everyone in this world.

I haven't figured out what kind of mission it is yet, but it's probably one that's vital to my future. Besides, if it involves magic, then it's _definitely _something I need to focus on. Still, that doesn't mean there's any need to worry about this for now. All I need to do is stay here and wait for whatever lies ahead. It might involve me returning home at some point, anyway.

By the time I had finished with these thoughts, my apple had already been finished, and I could finally see some blue in the sky, due to the sun being a bit higher than before. And to top it off, I heard a bell chime a total of 8 times. Yep. A clock tower. Guess I'd better start on my ship.

I would have gotten up and headed back into the library to get my wand, but I noticed something about my hands that seemed a bit off. The palms were glowing blue. The same blue color as the effects of my wand.

Is that part of my magic? But I thought I needed my wand for that. Unless... I need to try something. Maybe if I just concentrate the way I did when I was practicing magic during that changeling invasion...

I closed my eyes and tried flexing the muscles in my right hand. I felt a bit tingly, and when I opened my eyes, I saw that my hand had created a blue orb of magic, and sparks were flowing around it. The sight of it caused me to widen my eyes in astonishment.

"Whoa." After staring at the ball of magic for a few seconds, I got another idea. I closed my hand into a fist, and then opened it again to see that the magic had disappeared. OK, so I've got a way to disarm myself, too. But how can I test this properly? I stood up and looked at the apple core in my left hand, then a trash can close to the bench. Almost immediately, an answer came to me.

I tried pointing my index finger at the apple core, and when I did, a small beam of magic shot from it and held the core in midair. Impressed with this effect, I continued by directing my finger towards the trash can until the apple core was directly above it. Then I purposefully broke my concentration, and let it fall into the can.

Amazed by this power, I looked at my hands, which were both glowing again. I can actually use magic _without _my wand? This is awesome! I have to tell Twilight about this! I looked towards the library, and when I saw that the lights were on, I knew she was awake.

I ran up to the door, but before I could grab the handle, I got _another _idea. This time, I decided to get crafty by snapping my left fingers. When I did, a small streak of magic flickered from them, and surrounded the door handle, pulling it open.

I walked in, feeling really clever that I had discovered this new skill. Twilight suddenly came from the kitchen and quickly noticed me come in.

"Oh, there you are." She reacted to my presence. "I didn't see you in bed. Where were you, Ben?"

"Eating an apple on a bench outside." I quickly answered. "But that's not the only thing I was doing. Check this out."

I turned back to the open door and snapped my fingers again, resulting with the same magic effect carrying out my command to close the door. When I turned back to Twilight, I could see she was easily surprised by what I just did.

"How did you...?" She started.

"Amazing, right? I couldn't believe it either!" I replied. "And if you think that's something, watch this!"

I pointed my finger at a bookshelf, causing the books inside to fly out and circle Twilight for 3 seconds before they went back into their original spots. At first, Twilight's mouth was left agape in shock, but it quickly changed to an open smile.

"That... That's fantastic!" She cried out. "You don't need your wand to use magic?!"

"Apparently not." I said frankly. "But that doesn't mean I'm gonna stop using my wand. Maybe this is something I can use for simple spells."

"Really? How?" She asked, still a bit excited.

"Well, I think this might just be part of my powers." I began. "If I can use magic with and without my wand, then both ways must be slightly different. I've seen what I can do with my wand. Think about that large beam of magic I used against Chrysalis on that cloud. It's possible that this magic is my regular power. If that's true, then my wand can basically enhance that magic into something more powerful."

"Hm. Interesting theory." She complimented. "Sounds like the perfect way to explain it, too."

"Well, I've only been around here for so long, but I've learned plenty about this world." I said confidently as I walked past her and up the stairs. "And the way I see it, in the right possession, magic can be used for extraordinary things. And I'll probably be capable of doing just that with you being my teacher. Finding things to discover, uncovering the secrets of magic, I'm all for it!"

I felt some music coming along as I walked upstairs, where my wand and repair kit was. I grabbed my wand and put it in the back of my shirt while grabbing my repair kit with my hand magic. When I came back downstairs to Twilight, I began singing.

_I live a life less ordinary,_

_I live a life extraordinary with you._

While I tapped my foot, Twilight began bobbing her head to the music.

_I live a life less sedentary,_

_I live a life evolutionary with you._

I snapped my fingers to open the door, and both of us went outside, where other people were up and walking through town.

_Well, I'd hate to be a bother,_

_But I'm your student and there's no other, I believe._

_You could call me naive, but,  
_

_I know me very well, at least as far as I can tell,  
_

_And I know what I need._

I threw the repair kit over to my ship, which was next to the library.

_The day you came into my life,_

_You brought the joy to me, brought the joy to me._

_You blew away my pain and strife,  
_

_and brought the joy to me, brought the joy to me.  
_

_Just in time to, catch a ride to,  
_

_Something great, so come along, we can begin today._

Then I let Twilight take over with the singing.

_You live a life less ordinary,  
_

_You live a life extraordinary with me.  
_

_You were a bit too confused,_

_about the power that I used __to say 'Hello'._

_Something you didn't know._

I started up again.

_So come along with me, let's __fill ourselves with curiosity._

_We'll search around and find __something different every time._

_Look inside the day, __one look is all it really takes,_

_to live, learn and grow, on every path we go._

I repeated the refrain with high spirit.

_The day you came into my life,  
_

_You brought the joy to me, brought the joy to me._

_You blew away my pain and strife,  
_

_and brought the joy me, brought the joy to me.  
_

_Just in time to, catch a ride to,  
_

_Something great, so come along, we can begin today._

I felt so confident, I drew my wand and fired a streak of magic that flew up and exploded into several colors, like fireworks. Pretty much everyone in town could see it.

_I live a life less ordinary,_

_I live a life extraordinary with you._

I paused for a few seconds before continuing.

_If I could put you in this song,  
_

_Would it make you smile and sing along?  
_

_I've got a goal: Learn the skill in my soul._

Twilight started again.

_Magic may fill you with joy, __but keep in mind, it's not a toy._

_The power in your hand, I can help you understand._

I started the refrain one last time.

_The day you came into my life,_

_You brought the joy to me,_

_brought the joy to you. _Twilight joined in.

_You blew away my pain and strife,  
_

_and brought the joy me,_

_brought the joy to you. _She sung._  
_

_Just in time to, catch a ride to, _We both sung the last lines in unison.

_Something great, so come along, we can begin today!_

When our song ended, everyone nearby cheered, and both of us could only look at each other and smile.

Afterwards, I turned towards my ship and cracked my knuckles, which caused more magic to fly out of my hands. "Alright. Now let's give this piece of machinery a check-up!"

* * *

Later, I was looking at the interior from the underside of my ship by checking the wiring and circuit configuration, and Twilight was handing tools to me when I needed them. I remember being taught how to do a diagnostics check of the military ships back at the Academy, and there wasn't much difference with this ship. Except that there were fewer wires.

"Everything seems to be in working condition." I acknowledged. "Hand me the size 3 Phillips screwdriver."

I heard Twilight use her magic, then I saw a black-handled screwdriver covered in a pink glow hovering next to me.

"Is it this one?" She asked.

I took it and observed the blade and its size, quickly recognizing it. "Yep. Thanks."

Then I took the metal plate to my left and screwed it back onto the bottom of the ship, making sure it was properly tightened. Then I slid out from under it, got up and observed the vehicle.

"OK, let's take this thing into the air for a test drive." With these words, I took my card out of my pants pocket, inserted it into the slot, and typed in the access code. After the cockpit opened up, I boarded the ship, and fired up the engines.

But before I closed the cockpit for takeoff, I turned to Twilight. "You're probably gonna need to back up a bit."

So she did, and when I made sure she was at a safe distance, I hit the launch button. But when I tried to lift myself up a bit with the steering wheel, I heard something in the ship die down, and the entire thing just stopped altogether.

"Huh?" I hit the launch button 2 times, but got nothing. So I opened up the cockpit again. "What happened? I thought I checked everything."

"Strange." Twilight agreed. She put a hoof to her chin. "Hmm... Well, I might not know much about this kind of technology, but does it... run on anything? Like an energy source?"

I suddenly perked up. "The battery! Of course!"

I turned back to the control panel and saw that the green battery button was flashing red. And I also realized that the ship's computer screen hadn't come on either. Why didn't I notice that before?

So I pressed it, and heard the battery compartment open up. But that wasn't the only thing I heard. There was also a noise that sounded like something had fallen onto the ground. Followed by... sizzling?

"What was that?" I asked without leaving the ship.

I heard her come closer before she spoke up. "Uh... Ben? You might wanna take a look at this."

I jumped out of the ship, and next to Twilight. When I turned to her, she pointed at something.

"Is that supposed to be your energy source?" She questioned.

I looked to where she was pointing, and saw a familiar 7-inch battery on the ground. But it wasn't gold anymore. It was orange! And on fire!

"Oh, man!" I went over to the repair kit and put on a heat-proof handling glove. Then I came over to the battery and picked it up. I managed to put out the fire, but it was still so hot, you'd think I was holding lava. I sure hope this didn't damage the battery compartment.

"How'd that happen?" Twilight asked.

"I think I know." I answered. "When I crash-landed here during that first day, the battery must have overheated. And it probably got worse when I flew it to Canterlot during the invasion. Its energy is probably completely drained by now."

"What are you gonna do?" Twilight questioned.

"Don't worry. I've got just the tool for a situation like this." I replied.

To prove it, I went over to the repair kit and took out the battery charger. "Since it's a rechargeable battery, I can just insert it into this thing and it'll be back to normal in about an hour or so. All I need now is time to let the battery cool off, and an outlet for the cord."

"A what?" Twilight inquired, causing me to realize something.

"Oh, wait. You don't have cord plug-ins here, do you?"

"Um... Not that we know of." She replied frankly.

"Uh-oh." I reacted. "That might not work, then." I put a hand to my chin, trying to figure out something else. But all I got was stumped.

"I don't think I'm gonna be able to get past _this _roadblock." I admitted. "There might not be any other way to charge the battery." But then, unexpectedly, something came to me. "Or maybe there is."

I went back inside the library and started searching one of the bookshelves.

"What kind of spell books do you have?" I asked Twilight, who had followed me.

"All kinds. Why?" She asked.

"If magic can help me walk on clouds and take out a wave of changelings, then there's a chance it'll help me find a way to fix the battery, too." I replied.

"Oh, great idea!" She went upstairs, and came back down with the spell book she gave me during the party yesterday. "But I suggest you start with _this_ book."

I returned a smile, took it from her, sat down in a chair, and immediately started reading to find a spell that would help me out. There were a lot of them, but I couldn't find one that might be of use for the problem. I _did _find a difficult-to-practice duplication spell that I thought would work at first. But I realized I couldn't use that because even if I _did _try to use it on the battery, the duplicate one would still be in bad shape.

* * *

By the time it was 9:00, I had looked through at least _half _of my book and _still _hadn't found anything. Yeah. It was pretty big. Not in size, but when it came to pages...

"Wow!" Twilight suddenly piped up, prompting me to put my book down. "You're _still _looking through that? I thought you'd be taking a break by now."

"Well, I'm kind of a book person. It's just my thing." I admitted. "And I'm not just talking fictional stories. I'm talking about research."

No lie. Back at school, I was a very studious type. At least, when I put my mind to it. I just didn't apply myself as much as I should have. That's why my final history grade from a year ago came out a bit faulty.

"Really?" Twilight asked. "Well, I guess that's something else we have in common, aside from magic."

I just shrugged with a smile.

"Hey." She continued. "Not to be rude, but why exactly do you care about your ship's ability to fly so much?"

After hearing that question, I widened my eyes a bit in surprise. "What kind of question is that? That ship is the only thing I have for getting home. If I was destined to live here, the least I could do is visit my family every so often."

"Hm. Good point." She agreed. "Oh, speaking of your family, why exactly did you train at an academy to pay off the house mortgage? Did something happen?"

_That_ question totally caught me off guard. At first, I was extremely hesitant about it, and wondered if it was a good idea to get her involved with what happened. I was stunned with silence up to the point that Twilight began developing a look of worry in her eyes.

"Ben? What's wrong?" She questioned.

Finally, I spoke up, seeing no way out of it. Man, I'm gonna hate myself for this.

"OK. I'll just put it to you straight..." I looked up at her with complete sincerity. "Have you ever heard of divorce?"

She gasped, and her eyes widened with shock, but she quickly exchanged that for a very upset expression. "Oh my gosh. You mean...?"

I didn't stop there. I decided to tell her the rest of it, like I told Wesley. "It was my dad's choice, to be honest. He didn't have any grudge against my mom, other than a couple minor arguments that I don't know about. But that wasn't the main problem. Apparently, he was living through a lot of stress that he had no control over. When he asked someone for advice, he realized he needed to continue his life without being under the same roof as us. So he left to my grandma's place, which isn't that far from where we live. But ever since he and my mom told us, I lived through a 4-week long depression I'll _never _want to re-experience. Ever."

Each word that came out of my mouth filled me with a bit more heartache. Not because of the incident itself, but because Twilight now knew about it. And I could tell it made Twilight's heart sink, too. Her upset face had changed into something that made her look downright miserable.

After I had finished, I just closed my eyes, and hung my head in shame. "I really wish I didn't have to tell you about this, but I can't keep secrets from my greatest friend. I just can't."

Suddenly, I felt Twilight wrap her hoof around me, and put her head on my shoulder. When I opened my eyes, I could clearly see she was embracing me. But then I felt something wet on my shoulder. She was... crying? Oh, no.

"I... I had no idea it was that important to you." She said calmly. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that to you."

Seeing her like this caused something unusual to spark in me. A powerful urge to comfort her. An urge I couldn't ignore. So I hugged her back and stroked her hair.

"Twilight... It's OK." I tried to assure her. I really didn't expect her to react like this, but I didn't like it.

She lifted her head from my shoulder to look at me. I could see her tear-struck eyes, which increased my pain. "I had no idea. I was just so familiar with your cheerful self, I didn't think you would have lived through something like that. I swear, if I had known about that, I never would have brought it up. I'm... just so sorry for you."

I formed a warm and assuring smile. "You don't need to be. Ever since I came here, things have only gotten better. When you came into my life, you didn't just bring joy to me. You brought it _back _to me. I'm just as grateful for that as I was when you made my wand for me. Besides, I learned that there was actually a worse outcome than divorce. But that's something I _definitely_ can't mention."

Hearing this, Twilight wiped the tears from her eyes and returned the smile before embracing me again. "Thanks, Ben."

After we pulled away, I continued. "But aside from that, why I went to the Academy was another thing. I realized that if my parents were splitting up, then we'd have to split the money, too. And I knew we didn't have that much. And at that time, I also heard from my mom that we only had 11 months left to pay off the house mortgage, otherwise we'd be evicted. So when a free offer to join the Heroes Academy came in the mail, I decided to take matters in my own hands. For 5 months, I trained at that military camp, and I pushed myself to my limits so hard, I put my _life _at risk. After I passed the basic training with flying colors, I continued into the advanced class, where they used real weapons instead of training equipment."

"You did?" She asked, a bit surprised.

"I know. I was that desperate. I joined that academy because it said I'd get paid for my service there. The training itself would have given me enough money, but the day before I left, something happened that literally increased the payment by a million!"

At this point, Twilight sat down herself, beginning to get intrigued by my life story. "I don't really know any other way to describe them, but these... idiots unleashed an attack on the President and his home, and-"

"President?" Twilight suddenly asked.

"He's basically the... Well, I guess you could call him the 'ruler' of my country, kind of like Celestia. Where I'm from, things are a bit different from a kingdom, though. Anyway, when the General of the Academy learned about this, he sent every one of his soldiers, including me, to the scene to prevent them from carrying out their raid. I had no idea whether I would even survive it, but I was gonna make sure I would try. _Someone_ needed bring the mortgage money back home. While everyone else dealt with the guys attacking from the windows, I slipped by the defense without getting caught, and found a way in through a large heating vent. From there, I crawled through the ventilation, taking out any criminal I saw through the ceiling vents until I found the room where the President and everyone else was being held hostage. When I made it in there, I kicked that vent off the ceiling, jumped in, and opened fire on the only criminal in there. Basically the leader of the attack. I didn't seriously injure any of them, though. Just shot them in the legs."

"Sounds kind of gruesome, the way you put it." Twilight commented.

I agreed with a simple nod. "Point is, I saved the President's life that day. And the next day, he returned the favor by coming to the Academy to give me a _huge _load of money, while the General gave me position as Captain of the Military Command Fleet, and my ship. In the end, I returned home with 1,050,000 dollars, a pin on my chest, my ship, and a bit of my confidence restored. It was like a gift from Heaven. And when I came here, I learned it actually _was_!"

"Really? How?" She questioned. "Did it have anything to do with Chrysalis knocking you out?"

"It had _everything _to do with that." I answered. "When I arrived at that... black abyss in the form of my soul, I was met by Him." I just pointed up, and Twilight immediately understood. "He said He actually gave me the opportunity needed to get the money for my family, since he doesn't make that decision on his own. That's the power of free will. I could have decided to ignore it, but I wasn't like that at the time. If I _did _ignore the offer, I probably would have sealed my fate _and_ yours instead of change it for the better. But I didn't. And now look where I am. I'm living a good life again. But now I'm living it with you and the others, and that makes it better than even _I _could imagine. I thank Him for that."

When I stopped, Twilight just stared at me with amazement. "Wow. And you did all that just to save your family's home?"

I returned another warm smile. "Need I say more?"

"That's amazing." She reacted. "I thought you already had enough compassion, but... That's something else."

"That's what you should do in a family: Look out for each other." I said solemnly while still maintaining a smile.

"Hm. And I'd probably be doing the same thing if I were back in Canterlot." She agreed. "But I'm already old enough to live on my own. I think about my parents every so often, though."

I just kept my smile, but then I remembered something. "Oh, that reminds me. There's a question I keep forgetting to ask. How old are you, exactly?"

"Hm? Oh. Uh..." She thought for a second. "You mean in years?"

"Yeah."

"14, then." She answered. "Why?"

"Oh, just checking. Usually, I estimate age by height, but you never know." I replied. "When's your birthday?"

"July 18." That kind of got my attention. "Yours?"

"December 18." I said. "And I've been around for 15 years."

"Really? Then that means you're..." Twilight did some numbers in her head. "You're exactly 5 months older than me!"

"Wow. Who knew?" I expressed my interest.

"Not me, that's for sure." She responded. then she used her magic and put my spell book back in my hands. "But I _do_ know that you should keep looking through this book if you wanna find the solution to fixing your ship. And I know there's a high chance you will, because you have tenacity in your heart."

I nodded with agreement, and decided to go upstairs to read this time. On the way up, I passed Spike, who yawned.

"Well, _you're_ up late." I told him.

"Late? I'm never late for being Twilight's assistant." He tried to deny.

"How do you expect me to believe that when it's 9:10 already?" I countered.

"_What?!_" He exclaimed. He immediately sprinted down the stairs, causing me to laugh a bit.

I intended to lie on my bed to read, but before I could get myself comfortable, I caught sight of a mirror on the wall nearby, refreshing my memory about something else. I remembered my first day here, when I had asked about my hands looking a bit different from being in a new dimension.

Well, I haven't seen the rest of myself. Time to see what I look like in this universe.

I went over to the mirror, which revealed my face. And believe me when I say this, I _definitely _changed. I looked... brighter than before. My skin color hadn't changed or anything, but I just looked different. I didn't even know how to describe it. Although, it was a pretty interesting change. To be honest, I actually saw it as an improvement._  
_

Now knowledgeable of what I looked like, and that nothing important about me had changed, I went back to the bed, and started reading again.

* * *

After about 5 minutes of searching the book, I finally found something that I instantly realized would work. It was a spell that actually gave me access to extracting lightning from a cloud, and shooting it out in another direction. If I could send the voltage of the lightning into the cord of the charger, I could use that power to charge the battery.

But according to the chart, it had Phase 5 difficulty, which was pretty big. But I also remembered that time I stabbed my wand into that lightning-filled cloud to save myself from those changelings. Maybe that same spell just came out of nowhere. Maybe I could do it a second time!

I ran downstairs where Twilight and Spike were. "Twilight? I found it!"

She returned with a smile. "See? I knew you could!"

"Found what?" Spike asked with a crunched-up emerald in his mouth, sending some shards onto the ground.

Twilight turned to him. "OK, 1. Don't talk with your mouth full. I already stepped on one of those gem shards once, I don't want to do it again. And 2. He means he found a way to fix his ship."

Spike swallowed his gem. "But I thought _you_ fixed it."

"Well, yeah. She fixed the _ship._" I chimed in. "But the battery that keeps my ship running caught fire and got damaged when I crashed here. Basically a result of the fireball you saw during that first day."

"Oh, yeah." He remembered the incident, probably from his point of view.

I turned back to Twilight. "Anyway, I need to find Rainbow Dash."

* * *

We were outside the library, and next to my ship. I watched Rainbow Dash bring down a gray thunder cloud down to me and Twilight. Afterwards, she turned to me with a raised eyebrow.

"So, why am I bringing this here again?" She asked.

"You'll see." I answered.

I drew my wand from my shirt and gave it a 360-degree hand twirl.

"Are you sure you wanna try this spell, Ben?" Twilight clarified with me. "I didn't see you practice it before, and a failed attempt isn't a painless one. Trust me."

"Don't worry, Twilight. I know what I'm doing." I prepared to stab it into the cloud, but then I remembered my hand magic, and stopped. A grin appeared on my face. The type of grin I get from ideas that come into my head. I put the wand back in my shirt.

"Ben? What is it?" Twilight asked me.

"I've got a better idea." I said as I flexed the muscles in both of my hands, which caused them to glow blue, and get a bored Rainbow Dash's attention.

"Whoa." Rainbow reacted. "How are you...?"

"I'm gonna practice my hand magic for this one." I pressed my hands on the cloud and made sure I actually had a grip on the cloud. OK, good. That cloud-walking spell still works. Once I had gotten ahold of it, I closed my eyes, put some concentration into my magic, and tried using the spell. In just 6 seconds, I felt a bit tingly, kind of like my hand did when I created that orb of magic. But it was a lot stronger. Like my entire body had absorbed a bunch of electricity.

And when I backed away and opened my eyes, I could see that I actually _did_. My hands were each holding a ball of lightning that illuminated brightly, even though we were in broad daylight. But there was a bigger effect than that.

Not only was the thunder cloud white now, but bolts of lightning flew around me without any sound, and gave me that peculiar static feeling. Didn't feel like it was making my hair stand up or anything, though.

"Well, Sacre' bleu. It worked!" I said without any accent.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Twilight expressed in a dumbstruck way. "It usually takes several tries for a spell like that to work!"

"I thought you needed to use that stick for magic." Rainbow reacted with confusion.

"First off, you know perfectly well that it's called a wand." I began. "Second, I thought so, too. Turns out this is just my _regular _power."

"Hm. Well, if it is, then why are you using it to take the lightning from this cloud?" She asked.

I turned to my ship, then the charger, then back at Rainbow. "You might wanna see this."

I took the battery sticking out of my coat pocket, (which had cooled down) and placed it into the battery charger. Then I took the electricity from my left hand and used my magic to put that into my right hand. Then I grabbed the plug-in piece of the cord with my right hand, and transferred the energy from my hand to the cord. When I knew all the energy had left my body, I let go and observed the cord.

I actually heard it humming, which gave me the impression that the energy was flowing inside it. At first, nothing specific happened. But when I saw a red bulb light up on the charger, I knew the process had started.

"_Yes!_" I cried out with accomplishment. "I _knew _that would work! I _knew _it!"

"Nice going, Ben!" Twilight complimented.

"Uh... What did he do?" Rainbow asked Twilight. OK, she obviously has no idea.

Twilight rolled her eyes and began explaining. "That golden thing? It's the power source for his ship. It's the only thing that can get it flying. It got damaged when he crashed it, so he needs to charge it back up with that gadget. But since he didn't have the right tool for turning it on, he needed to use the electricity from that lightning cloud to power it up."

Rainbow just scratched her head with her hoof in confusion, which I believed must have been harder without fingers.

"I don't follow you." She admitted. "I can't translate egghead."

I rolled my eyes as a sign of non-amusement. "I forgot how to laugh."

She just ignored it, though. "But I was happy to help, either way. Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta put this cloud back in the air and get back to my flying."

Eh. Close enough.

She immediately darted up with the cloud, and put it reasonably high in the air. Then she cracked her neck and looked down at us.

"Catch you on the flip side!" She called out. Then she took off at high speed. A speed big enough to create a familiar rainbow-colored explosion in the air. I remember her showing me that Sonic Rainboom during the party yesterday.

"Wow. She's getting really good at that." Twilight said. "It used to take longer for her to get up to that speed."

"No kidding." I agreed.

* * *

Now content that my battery was being charged, Twilight decided to give me my first magic lesson by testing me with some spells, and I took that time to practice my hand magic to see just how strong it was. Turns out, I was more than capable of doing the really hard spells. I even figured out another hand trick I could do. I could actually do physical combat with my magic by clenching my hand into a fist until it was enveloped with the effects of the combat spell. Then I could just punch something, and the effects of the spell would increase the damage of the punch. Might as well be punching like Rayman from Rayman Legends! And I've played that game a lot!

After I had successfully used magic to turn an orange into an apple, and then back again, Twilight decided to end the lesson.

"I can't believe this." Twilight said as she looked over my test results. "You've aced everything I've thrown at you, and you barely even needed to lift a finger!"

"Well, aside from the spells I used my index finger on." I joked, causing Twilight to giggle a bit.

"Seriously, though. This is something extraordinary!" Twilight redirected back to the subject. "I've _never _met somepony or someone with such raw power. You've only just started training yourself and you're even more skilled than _me_! And that's saying something! I need to send a letter to Celestia, and tell her about this discovery."

Spike suddenly came into the room with a quillpen and a scroll. "Already on it!"

"OK, then." Twilight began saying her message out loud, while Spike wrote it on the paper. "Dear Princess Celestia, I'd just like to inform you that the first 2 days Ben has had in Ponyville so far have been very, _very_ successful. Not only did his tour and greeting party to Ponyville go as planned, but I also gave him my first magic lesson today, and he passed _everything_. And I didn't just give him some simple spells. I also tested him with some advanced spells, and he exceeded in every single one. Not only that, but he found out on his own that he can use his hands for magic, and that he doesn't need his wand for it. But that doesn't mean he'll stop using it. Both him and I hope to learn more about this extraordinary talent he possesses, and that he learns how to control it properly. Your former student, Twilight Sparkle."

"Done!" Spike said after the note was finished. "Should I send it?"

"Fire away, Spike." Twilight allowed him.

But before he could send it by... Well, honestly, I didn't really know how he was gonna send it. Anyway, before he did, I got an idea.

"Spike, wait a minute." I stopped him. "Is there more room on that paper?"

He looked at it. "Um... Not really. But I could tape some extra paper on, if you wanna send a message to her, too."

"That's exactly what I intend to do." I replied.

So he went into the other room, and came back in 7 seconds later with a longer scroll. "Ready when you are."

So I took a deep breath before starting. If I'm gonna do this, then I gotta keep my word.

"Celestia," I began. "It's me, Ben. I just wanted to add on to this message and tell you this. What Twilight is saying is true. This power is definitely something I didn't expect in my life. Especially since magic isn't really a thing in my dimension. But I'm glad I have it, because it'll help me with my new mission. I'm making a solemn promise to you, Twilight, and everyone in Equestria. From this moment on, I hereby devote half of my life to defending Equestria when all hope seems lost. I promise to take action and lead my team when Twilight can't. But most of all... No matter what, I promise to always use my magic for the greater, and _never _think to turn my back on your kind. The other half of my life, I'll be tending to my family, and making sure they know I'm in good hands. Or hooves. Whichever one works for you. Anyway, I hope I'll be able to see you and your sister again soon. Signing off, The Guardian."

When I finished, I saw that Twilight had sent me an affectionate smile, obviously because I had displayed my new and deep care for Equestria.

"There." Spike told me. "It's ready."

"OK, _now _you can send it." Twilight told him.

So, he rolled it up and "sent" it by blowing on it with his green fire, causing the scroll to dissolve into sparked flames, and fly out the window.

"How...?" I began to ask, but Twilight quickly answered.

"It's a bit of magic Celestia gave to Spike. It comes from his fire-breathing. He simply blows on the message, it flies to where Celestia is, solidifies into the message again, and she reads it. Simple as that."

"Hm. I guess everyone here has a bit of magic." I said, impressed by this fact.

"OK, there's that taken care of." Twilight put on her saddlebag, then opened the door to the outside with her magic. "Come on! I think it's time we all get some lunch."

I would have gone with that, but I remembered the incident at the pizza place yesterday. "Actually, that might not work for me."

"How?" Twilight asked. "We're just gonna pick up a few to-go flower sandwiches and head back here."

"That's the problem." I told her. "Humans are omnivores. I don't eat flowers."

"Oh, you don't? OK, let me think, then." She put another hoof to the chin. "Well... You can eat cheese. Maybe a regular-size grilled cheese sandwich would work?"

"Sure." I agreed. "I've had those before."

"You don't eat grass either, do you?" She clarified.

"Uh, no." I replied.

"Alright, I guess the hay fries are out of question for you, too." She said.

"Well, that's OK. A sandwich is enough for me, anyway." I assured her.

"Oh. Alright." She turned to Spike. "Come on Spike. We're... Spike? You OK?"

I turned to Spike to see that he was clutching his stomach, and his cheeks were swelled a bit. Like he was about to puke or something. "I... I think Celestia..." He suddenly let out a belch that caused some green fire to emerge from his mouth. But then the green fire changed into a rolled-up scroll, which Twilight picked up with her magic.

"...responded." Spike finished.

Twilight turned to me. "That's how Celestia replies to our letters."

"I kinda figured that." I replied.

Twilight unrolled the scroll, and began reading it out loud. "'Dear Twilight Sparkle, I am glad to hear that Benjamin's welcome to Ponyville went well. Personally, I believe he deserves that much. About his early expertise in magic, that _does_ sound interesting. But I'm sure it's nothing you and he can't look into. I wish you luck with discovering the secret behind his powers.'"

"Huh. I guess she trusts us with this assignment we've given each other." I said.

"Hang on, there's more." Twilight continued reading the letter. "'That being said, there's something I'd like to inform you about. You see, a princess summit is to occur at the Crystal Empire in 2 days, and it is imperative that you attend.' Ooh!"

A princess summit? Well, lucky her. Wait. Didn't Twilight say the Crystal Empire was Princess Cadance's home?

"'But you won't be the only one attending it.'" She continued. "'Your friends are also invited, too. So make sure they know about this special event, and that they are prepared for it.'"

She gasped with excitement, then turned to me. "Ben! Do you know what this means?! We're going to the Crystal Empire! I'll be able to introduce you to the city! _And _I'll be able to see my sister-in-law again! Whoo-hoo!" She jumped into the air, flapping her wings a bit for a boost. But then she forgot she couldn't fly, and started falling back down. Luckily, I drew my wand and caught her before she hit the floor. I didn't know if I could have done the same with my hand magic, but I didn't wanna risk it.

I put her on her feet and then put my wand back. "Well, _you're_ clearly excited about this. And I don't blame you. This _is _big. I gotta say, I never really expected this. But it definitely sounds like something _I'd_ want to attend. Especially if it means seeing Celestia and Luna again. To be honest, I didn't have that much time to talk to them before. And aside from the fact that she's responsible for rotation of the moon, I pretty much know zilch about Luna."

Twilight kept her excited smile. "Well, maybe you 2 could learn more about each other. Either way, I'm so excited about seeing Cadance. She was busy with royal duties, so she couldn't attend the party thrown for you at Canterlot. This'll be the perfect reunion."

"Oh, _Cadance_ is your sister-in-law?" I didn't realize that at first. "How do you 2 relate?"

"Easy. My brother married her, and we've been related ever since." She quickly answered. "She used to be my foalsitter, and a great one at that. But gaining a sister that literally spreads love wherever she goes... That's pretty much a miracle."

"Literally? You mean she uses magic for that?" I asked, amazed by the thought.

"I know, it's amazing! That's why she makes a great sister-in-law!" Spike hopped on her back, and she went to the door again. "Come on! We can invite the others to lunch and tell them the news!"

"Great idea!" I started after her, but I suddenly remembered something and stopped. I turned back to the scroll that Twilight had left on the floor.

Did Celestia respond to my message, too?

I picked up the scroll and looked at it. I scanned the cursive writing until I found some words at the bottom that were unfamiliar to the ones Twilight had read.

_And Benjamin? There is no word that can describe my joy to hear you make a promise to our world like that. I will heed your words and hope you remember to heed them yourself. I also await your arrival for the princess summit, and admire any excitement you may display. I'm sure Twilight will be excited about it, too._

_About your powers... Even I don't have any explanation for their strength. But this can prove to be a great task for you to complete. I hope you will be capable of uncovering the secret behind your magic, and that you will push through every given challenge with the 2 traits I have seen in you: Determination and valiance._

_See you soon, Benjamin.  
__Princess Celestia_

I released a confident smile, and put the scroll on a nearby table. Then I went after Twilight and Spike, who had both stopped when they realized I wasn't following them. Twilight probably noticed me reading the note, because she gave me time. When I had caught up, all 3 of us continued into town.

* * *

"OK. Who should we round up first, and where should we look?" Twilight asked me for a suggestion as we continued walking.

I thought for a minute, but came up with a better idea. "Hey... Instead of finding them, why don't we have _them_ find _us_?"

"How would we do that?" Twilight questioned.

"That depends..." I replied. "What's the name of the restaurant we're headed to?"

"The Clover Cafe'." She answered. "Why?"

I just drew my wand and fired a clear-to-see message into the air that spelled...

**APPLEJACK, RAINBOW DASH, PINKIE PIE, FLUTTERSHY, AND RARITY. PLEASE REPORT TO THE CLOVER CAFE'.**

Afterwards, I put my wand back and looked back at Twilight. "Does that answer your question? Now come on. Let's head to the Cafe' and see if they'll get the message."

So she led me to a restaurant that had mushroom-like tables for outside eating, piles of hay for seats, and a few customers there, too. And one of them was Rainbow Dash.

We went over to the table she was sitting at, and she quickly noticed us. "Hey, guys. What was up with those words in the sky? Were they from you?"

"Yep." I answered. "We've got something to tell you. But we gotta wait for the others."

So Twilight, Spike and I sat down while we waited. And before long, we saw the other 4 showing up, only as a group.

Applejack was the first to speak up. "I had a feeling that message was from you, Ben. What's the buzz?"

"Is something wrong?" Fluttershy asked.

"A party, maybe?" Pinkie guessed.

"You could say that, Pinkie." I replied.

"But we gotta get some lunch first." Twilight added. "I'm buying."

They all agreed and sat down with us. When the waiter came over to us with a notepad, we each told him our lunch decision.

"Make that a to-go order, please." Twilight finished.

"Very well, Princess." He acknowledged calmly. I guess _he's_ used to Twilight being around.

When he left to the kitchen into the building, Applejack displayed a confused face.

"To-go? Why?" She asked.

"You know how excited Pinkie can get about surprises." Twilight reminded her.

"I can't help it!" Pinkie said. "I _love _surprises."

"Anyway, we're planning on heading to the library to tell you the news, where we won't attract a crowd." Twilight explained. "Besides, it's something pretty big."

"Oh, it's more than big." I corrected. "It's huge. I may not have been here that long, but I know that this surprise sounds like something _anyone _would want to attend. Because I know _I _do."

"Your food, madam." The waiter, who had returned, addressed Twilight. He was holding 8 white boxes that each held our food. "That will be 30 bits."

"OK." Twilight took out a small brown bag, and removed 30 gold coins from it. I take it that's their currency here.

After she paid, the others looked into the boxes until they found their lunches. The only 2 that weren't opened were mine and Twilight's.

I reached down to pick up one of them and check if it was mine, but I was surprised when I ended up touching Twilight's hoof, as she intended to pick up the same one. When it happened, I felt something... unusual. It was a strong feeling of warmth that spread throughout my body. Mainly from my heart.

I looked up at her with a surprised expression, she looked at me in a similar way, and we quickly pulled away. I actually felt redness on my cheek, and I assumed Twilight did the same.

I looked back at the others. Luckily, they had their backs turned, so they didn't notice. When I turned back to Twilight, I put a hand to the back of my head, and looked towards the ground a bit, still feeling red on my cheeks.

Twilight (who was blushing too, as I had guessed) just chuckled nervously, picked up one of the lunch boxes with her magic, and went over to the others. Meanwhile, I just stood there stunned by what had happened. What was _that _all about? What was up with that warm feeling? And why did some of it feel similar to that urge to comfort Twilight when she heard about my past? What the heck _was _that emotion?

Maybe I...

The thought caused me to widen my eyes greatly and drop my jaw in shock.

Oh, man, I can _not_ be falling in love with an Alicorn!

* * *

When we made it back to the library, everyone opened up our lunches and started eating. While they had friendly conversations with each other, I sat on the staircase and stared at my sandwich, still confused about the... incident back at the Cafe'.

Twilight easily noticed me alone and came over to sit next to me. "What's wrong? You haven't eaten anything."

I just turned to her, keeping my confused face. "What just happened back there?"

She immediately recognized what I was talking about, and blushed again. "I... don't know. But, to be honest, that's probably nothing we should take seriously."

"But what if it is?" I worried. "Because I'm feeling a bit strange on the inside right now. And it's not just confusion."

"Oh. Good point there." She thought for a second. "Well, I guess we can just put this aside for now. Maybe things will change in the future."

"I suppose so." I agreed. "But that doesn't mean I'm gonna forget about it completely."

"Well, until then..." She stood up and turned to the others. "Alright, everypony. Time to tell you the news."

They all looked towards us while I finally started eating.

"I'm going to the Crystal Empire for a princess summit. And you're all invited!" Twilight revealed.

At first they gasped, but then they all cheered with excitement.

"Alright!" Rainbow Dash said while in the air. "I'll be able to show the Crystal Ponies my Sonic Rainboom, too!"

"Crystal Ponies?" I inquired, unaware of a race like that.

"They're basically ponies who live in the Crystal Empire." Twilight told me. "They have a special magic that makes them look like they're each a living gem."

"Which, for some reason, makes me hungry every time I look at one." Spike mentioned as he ate another hay fry.

"Anyway," Twilight continued. "In 2 days, you're all gonna want to pack some things to come with us, so we can meet Celestia, Luna, and Cadance."

"'Us'? You mean _I_ don't have to pack anything?" I questioned. Was she talking about me?

"Well, of course." She answered. "You don't _need _to pack anything, do you?"

I realized she was right. "Point taken." I said as I finished my sandwich.

"I'm sure it's gonna be fun." Applejack commented. "I'll look forward to it."

"I second that!" Rainbow Dash added.

Pretty soon, everyone else agreed, too. _That's_ definitely familiar.

"Then make sure you know what to pack before we go there." Twilight told them. "Because I know I'll be ready."

"Not that you'd need to pack today, of course." I reminded.

"And it's a good thing, too." Rainbow added. "I'm starting to get a hang of my new trick, and I need to make sure I don't forget how to do it."

"_I've _gotta prepare a birthday party for Pipsqueak!" Pinkie noted.

"I have a special dress to make for one of my clients." Rarity mentioned.

"I haven't fed the animals back home yet." Fluttershy told us.

"I've got my daily apple-buckin' to attend to." Applejack said.

I guess _everyone's _busy today.

"Until then, see you there!" They all finished in unison. Then everyone left, and Twilight, Spike and I stayed at the library.

* * *

Sometime later, I decided to check on my ship's battery outside, and see if it was ready yet. I used my magic to deactivate the shield that I had put around the charger before I left it, and noticed that the bulb on the charger had changed from red to green. Look like it's ready.

I took the battery and looked at it. Now that it was cooled down, it was back to being gold. But does that mean it's charged?

To make sure, I opened up the battery compartment and put it in. But not before checking if the compartment was burnt or damaged. Luckily, it wasn't. Then I boarded my ship, and hit the launch button. When I did, the computer touch screen turned on, and at the top right corner, a "Full Power" battery symbol showed.

Alright. Mission accomplished.

I was about to shut it down and head back inside, but I noticed a button on the touch screen that stopped me from getting out. It looked like some kind of black plug symbol. Wait a minute. Oh, tell me that's not a...

I pressed it and heard something open up on the right of the ship. When I jumped from the ship to take a look, I saw none other than a cord plug-in outlet.

"You have got to be kidding me." Although... It actually kind of helps that I didn't know about that. I _did _train my magic up with that lightning spell.

I climbed back into the cockpit and pressed the button again to close the outlet door. And _then _I saw a button on the touch screen that easily got my attention. A Google Chrome symbol? This thing has internet access? Huh. I guess the President really _did _mean it was a built-in computer. Does it have a signal?

I pressed the symbol, and a regular Google page opened up, displaying the "Type here" search bar in the middle of the screen.

"Holy cow." I continued scaling the control panel for anything else, and caught sight of a button with a computer mouse symbol engraved in it. I get a feeling I know what this one's gonna do.

When I pressed it, part of the desk behind the steering wheel opened up, and a wireless mouse popped up on the right. Wow. this ship's got _everything_!

I put my hand on it, and immediately went to Xfinity, where my email profile was. The first thing I saw was the email icon that showed 5 unread messages. When I viewed them, each one had a subject that either asked where I was, what had happened, or if something was wrong.

There was one from Mom...

_Honey, where are you? Tom says you went back to the academy for a mission given to you by the Government or something. What's he talking about? And why did you have to leave immediately after you came back? We all miss you and hope you come back again. We'll be praying for you!_

From my brother...

_Hey, are you OK? I know you said you had a job, but I didn't think it would take you this long. What's going on?_

Even from Wesley.

_Seriously, dude? You left again? What's happening?_

But the one that _really_ got my attention was an email from Dad. It had been published today.

_Hey, kiddo! Tom told me __you left to New York again for an assignment from that academy you attended._

He told Dad, too?

_You missed out on the first visit to my place. Well, my mom's place, to be honest. But that's not the point. __Where have you been? Tom says you left 3 days ago and haven't come back yet. Is it urgent?_

I thought for a minute, but eventually decided to respond to each of them. First Dad.

_You could say that. But I'm afraid I can't tell you where I am right now. You wouldn't believe it. And don't tell the others about this. I'll tell them._

Then Tom.

_I can't say. Not that it's restricted. It's just kind of hard to explain._

Then Wesley.

_I'm sorry, man. I wish I could tell you, but I'd just sound like an idiot._

And then Mom.

_I'm so sorry I had to leave you guys again. But this mission led me to something I can't explain right now. I'll see what I can do about coming back. In the meantime, I'll be praying for you guys, too._

Then I looked at the final email. A message from the General. I remember giving him my email a few days before I had to leave the Academy.

_Captain,_

_If you're reading this, then good. I need to know as soon as possible. Where did that wormhole lead you to? Are you alright? All of us are eagerly awaiting your response. We're working on a second T-500 SpaceCar to send someone after you, in case you need help. Respond to this as soon as possible._

_General Clinton_

After reading it, I just stared at the text. But I finally plucked up courage, and typed up a response.

_Don't worry about me. I'm alive, and in good health. Believe it or not, that wormhole has led me into a parallel universe. I'm currently taking residence in the planet Earth from Dimension 14, and I probably won't be able to return for a while. But not because my ship is in pieces. A friend of mine here managed to help with that. I'm sorry, but I can't tell you about this planet, and what it's like. It wouldn't make sense. And please don't respond to this, either._

_Soldier 35_

After I sent the response, I just closed my eyes and put my head back on the head-rest part of the seat. I sighed, wondering how they would react to these emails. But then, as if answering my thought, I heard a small beep, notifying that I had another email. I opened my eyes and looked at the message. It was a response from the General. But I thought I told him _not _to reply.

There was no subject name, so I just clicked it to make sure it was off the "Unread" list. The only words in the response were...

_Roger that, Captain._

Oh, right. I probably should have expected that from a guy like him...

* * *

For the rest of the day, I didn't touch the ship's computer. No YouTube or anything. Instead, I continued reading my spell book, and practicing some spells to make sure my progress with magic wasn't fading. And I even figured out something else.

Remember that spell I used to turn an orange to an apple? Turns out, I was capable of doing that with other things, too. I actually took one of the hay fries Spike didn't eat, and managed to change it from hay to potato. Maybe if I could turn hay into ham or something, then I'd be able to get some meat in my system while being here.

* * *

That night, I stood on the balcony again, and looked up at the moon in the dark blue sky. I just thought about the possible future that would await me.

Like yesterday, Twilight came out and joined me. "Ben? What are you doing out here? It's 9:00."

"Oh, really? Huh. Must have lost track of time." I reacted.

"Well, I already put Spike to bed." She replied. "He would have done it himself, but he fell asleep while sweeping. Again." She giggled. "Anyway, I think we should head to bed, too."

I looked at the moon, then back at her. "I think you're right."

We went back inside the library and Twilight closed the doors to the balcony. There was a light still on, so we could see perfectly fine.

"Hey, Ben?" Twilight piped up again. "There's something I've been meaning to give you."

"Really?" I asked. "What is it?"

She came up to me and used her magic to take out some kind of metal object. "Here." She put it in my hand.

When I got a better look at it, I saw that it was a pin, similar to the way my original pin was designed. It looked like a 3D print of Twilight's cutie mark. But there was a silver outline, and a detailed blue star was in the center.

"Whoa. How did you make this?" I questioned.

"Magic." She answered. "Figured I could work on it while you practiced with your own spells. I wanted to give you this to make up for the fact that your original pin turned into the 7th Element. And this could be something for you to remember me by."

I stared at the pin, which seemed to glow as the room's light reflected off it. "It's... beautiful."

"Well, I had to do something for my best friend." Twilight replied.

"'Best friend'?" I inquired.

"Well, you said so yourself when you saw _me_ as _your_ best friend." Twilight reminded me. "What better way to return the favor than to create something to represent our friendship? That's why I put that blue star in the middle. Because you'll always have a place in my heart, like the rest of my friends."

I smiled and wrapped my arms around her while still keeping the pin in my hand. "Thanks, Twilight." I felt her hug me back.

When we pulled away, I put the pin on the left side of my chest, where my heart was. Then I removed my coat and shoes, put one of them on the wall, and climbed into my bed, still wearing the pin.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to wear that to bed?" Twilight clarified.

"If I can sleep an entire night with my original pin on my chest, then I'm pretty sure I can do the same with this one." I told her. "Besides, I'm gonna see to it that I don't take this thing off for a long time."

Twilight released a warm smile, and turned off the light. From there, we both fell asleep without another word, but with a very content feeling.

But that suddenly changed to realization for me when I realized I had forgotten to tell Twilight about the dream I had last night.

_Oh, never mind. That can wait until tomorrow..._


	8. A Message from The Guardian's Guide

**Szenka: How's ****_this _****for a next chapter?**

**Note: Any Deviantart users here? Why not try to modify my FanFiction profile pic to get a good impression on what I would look like in Equestria? You know, like an Equestria Girls look. Only without a different skin color.**

**If there are any followers that are part of a Brony group, then spread the word about this FanFiction. I'll really appreciate it.**

Episode 8 - A Message from The Guardian's Guide

* * *

A flicker of my awareness prompted me to open my eyes. But instead of the library's ceiling, I was staring up at a large field of nebulae. When I sat up and looked around, I quickly recognized the strange, but beautiful environment. That dream! Am I reliving it again?

I stood up and looked around, noticing that I was standing on a large path of stars. When I looked down, I also saw that my feet had changed. The only thing that revealed them was a blue outline. They looked the same way they did when I took the form of... my soul. What?

With these thoughts, I felt something familiar in the back of my shirt. When I pulled it out, I found that I was holding my wand. And it was in full color, compared to my outlined body. That's weird. Can I use magic?

To make sure, I tried a spell that I had trained myself with before. A flashlight spell. In an instant, my wand was emitting a bright blue glow. OK, at least I got magic here. This is like one of those dreams where I actually _realize _I'm dreaming.

When I put my wand back, I looked around again, but didn't see Twilight or Celestia anywhere. Is this a different dream? Or did the events of the last dream not occur yet?

"Wondering where you are, I presume?" A male's voice behind me interrupted my thoughts. When I turned, I saw a small, illuminating blue light, which differed from the other stars. It just floated there without any noise. Did that thing just speak?

I took a step back, not knowing what it would do next. But then I heard the voice again. For some reason, it _was_ coming from the light!

"Don't worry, my friend. You can trust me. I'm not a threat." It said to me.

At first, I just blinked with a bit of surprise. But then I realized that it might be telling the truth. Whatever it was.

"Where am I?" I tried to ask it. "What is this place?"

"We'll get to that later." It answered. "First, I need to ask you some things. Do you know who or what I am?"

"No." I quickly replied.

"Good. If you did, then something would have gone wrong." The light told me.

"'Gone wrong'? What?" I inquired.

"A special knowledge implant given to you by our superior friend." He explained. Is he talking about God?

"You mean...?" I began, but he continued.

"Yes, I do mean Him. But magic isn't the only gift He's given you."

"What? How do you know all this?" I questioned.

"Because I'm His... Well, as you might put it, His former messenger." He said. "I've changed my occupation to helping you with your new quest."

My eyes widened hearing this. "You were sent here by God?!"

"No need to get overexcited." He assured me. "That's why I brought you here: To tell you everything about myself. You're basically dreaming, but you're also awake, in a way. You are in the form of your... dream soul, you might say."

That brought realization to my mind. "You mean _you're _the one causing all these dreams? It was you all along?"

"In a way, yes." He responded. "I do apologize for the confusion, but He needed to teach me a certain power before I could become your... conscience."

"My conscience?"

He continued to explain. "Yes. I am simply a part of you, in the form of your weapon's soul. And as your conscience, I have been given the responsibility of showing you something." He came a bit closer to me. "Take out your wand."

"Um... OK." I slowly drew my wand again, and when I did, the light somehow flew inside the tip of the wand, causing the entire wand to glow bright blue.

"Alright. Now use a teleportation spell." He commanded me.

"Where to?" I asked.

"Nowhere in particular." He replied. "Just use the spell, and I can take us to our next destination."

I realized if there was any time to trust anyone here, it was now. I don't know who this person is, but if he's already told me this much, then I have to listen.

I nodded at my wand, hoping he would see that somehow, and quickly used teleportation to continue with uncovering the secrets behind all this.

* * *

After feeling a few seconds of head rush, everything stopped. When I opened my eyes, I saw that I was in a place I really didn't expect to be taken to.

"Ponyville?" I asked the light, still sealed in my wand. "Why are we here?"

"It's not what you think." He replied. Each word he said, the glow of my wand increased by a bit, and then decreased. "This is simply a vision of the past. I'm sure you're familiar with those?"

I remembered my past experiences, and nodded with agreement. But then I thought of something. "Wait... If this is a vision of the past, then why isn't it _my _past? I mean, if this is _that_ far into the past, then I don't think I'd be here."

"Because it isn't supposed to be_._" He answered. "This is simply a vision of your friend's past. It's just not through her eyes."

I knew it! That last dream I had _was _Twilight's past!

"So when is this?" I questioned as I observed the library, which we were standing next to.

"2 days before you arrived in this dimension." He told me. "Now pay attention. If you want to know why all this is happening to you, then watch and learn. And don't worry about being seen. This is a vision, not time travel."

Right about then, I heard some music start up, and looked towards the library, where someone familiar popped her head out a window, and started singing along.

_Morning in Ponyville shimmers, _Twilight began.

_Morning in Ponyville shi-i-ines. _Even though she went back into the library, I could still hear her voice.

_And I know for absolute certain, _She came out the door, and outside, where I noticed she was a unicorn.

_That everything is certainly fiiiine. _She looked up at the blue sky, then continued into town, prompting me and the light to follow her.

Twilight jumped up to a part of the town fountain...

_There's the Mayor en route to her office,_

...then down again when the Mayor passed.

_There's the sofa clerk selling some quills,_

"'Mornin', kid!" the clerk greeted her as she passed.

Twilight continued to the Clover Cafe'.

_My Ponyville is so gentle and still._

She suddenly ran up to a few customers.

_Can things ever go wrong?_

_I don't think that they will._

Twilight jumped up onto the empty table and did a certain dance, prompting the waiter nearby to do the same. Then the 2 customers, impressed by this, lifted her off the table and onto the ground, and she proceeded through town again.

_Morning in Ponyville shimmers,_

_Morning in Ponyville shi-i-ines,_

Several others created a formation behind her while multiple Pegasi flew over her, and then back to the ground.

_And I know for absolute certain,_

_That everything is certainly-_

Just when it looked like she was gonna finish, a large spray of water fell from the sky, completely drenching her. She immediately formed a frown of non-amusement.

"Rainbow Dash, that's not funny!" Twilight scolded as she looked up. I assumed it was Rainbow, too. But when I looked up, I didn't see any multi-colored Pegasus in the air.

Instead, a familiar unicorn's voice replied, getting Twilight's attention. "Terribly sorry darling. I'm afraid I'm... I'm not good with the thundery ones."

I noticed she was using her magic to move the clouds through the air. but _then _I noticed something really unusual. She had Rainbow Dash's cutie mark! What?

And I wasn't the only one that noticed. When Twilight saw it, she gasped. "Something tells me everything is _not _going to be fine."

Nevertheless, Twilight walked up to Rarity. "What are you doing? What happened to your cutie mark?"

"Whatever do you mean, Twilight?" Rarity asked as she continued to move clouds around. "I'm simply doing what I've done since the day it first appeared." She organized the sky into a checkerboard of random clouds, and parts of the sky. "Does my sky look fabulous or what?"

But instead of admiring the sky, people surrounded her and began loudly complaining about the weather, which was not even close to proper. And one of the civilians ended up walking through me, like I was some kind of ghost. I guess that's what he meant.

"Too last season?" Rarity guessed innocently.

Meanwhile, Twilight tried to ask Rarity more questions among the angry crowd. "Where is Rainbow Dash? Why isn't she handling this?"

But Rarity couldn't answer with the crowd of angry pedestrians. So Twilight took off towards the library, and I followed.

* * *

After retrieving a drowsy Spike and asking Rarity where Rainbow was again, Twilight led me through the path to Fluttershy's home.

"I still don't know what you had to wake me up for." Spike said with a yawn. "I love sleeping in the rain."

"It's not about the weather, Spike." Twilight informed him. "Rarity had Rainbow Dash's cutie mark and said this was Rainbow Dash's cottage."

Sure enough, Fluttershy's house came into view.

"Something strange is going on..." Twilight continued as she knocked on the door with her hoof. Turns out, the person that answered it _was _Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, guys." Rainbow glumly greeted through the door.

Twilight immediately started with a question. "Rainbow, why is Rarity doing _your _job?"

A crash from inside the house interrupted the conversation, and Rainbow hurried back into the house to take care of whatever had happened.

Twilight used her magic to open the door the rest of the way. "And what in Equestria is going on in..." We all saw a _huge _bunch of angry animals flying and running around the inside. "...here?"_  
_

Rainbow just began singing while trying to restore order in the house, but failed greatly.

_These animals don't listen. No, not one little bit._

_They run around out of control and throw their hissy fits._

_It's up to me to stop them, 'cause plainly you can see._

_It's got to be my destiny, _

_And it's what my cutie mark is telling me._

She revealed her cutie mark, which turned out to be 3 butterflies. Fluttershy's.

"Well, if you're here, then where's Fluttershy?" Twilight asked her over the commotion.

"At Sugarcube Corner, for all I know." Rainbow answered. "Why?"

Instead of responding, Twilight and Spike ran back up the path to Ponyville. My guess, to the bakery.

We quickly arrived at our destination, where Fluttershy was using multiple party items to entertain a crowd. At least, she was _trying_ to.

_I try to keep them laughing, put a smile upon their face. _Fluttershy began singing.

_But no matter what I try, it seems a bit of a disgrace._

_I have to entertain them, it's there for all to see._

Suddenly, people actually _did _start laughing a bit. But that was only because Spike was doing a random dance with one of those nose and glasses headsets until Twilight suggested that he stop.

_It's got to be my destiny,_

_And it's what my cutie mark is telling me._

_Her_ cutie mark was actually Pinkie's. 3 blue balloons on her flank. What the heck's happening?

"Fluttershy, have you seen Pinkie Pie?" Twilight questioned.

"She's working at Sweet Apple Acres, like she always does." Fluttershy told her.

Immediately, Twilight and Spike changed their location, and headed to the outskirts of town.

There, we saw an apple farm that looked completely devastated. And the one who tried to restore its former glory was none other than Pinkie Pie, whose hair looked kind of... deflated for some reason. Either way, her efforts weren't helping.

Then _she _began singing, too!

_I don't care much for pickin' fruit, and plowin' fields ain't such a hoot._

_No matter what I try, I cannot fix this busted water chute! _She was struggling with a rain gutter on the barn as she tried putting her whole self on top of it. But the weight of her body caused it to fall clean off.

_I've got so many chores to do, it's no fun being me._

_But it has to be my destiny, _

_'Cause it's what my cutie mark is telling me._

Her flank revealed a cutie mark of 3 apples. You're kidding me.

"Where's Applejack?" Twilight asked a frustrated Pinkie, who tried working on the rain gutter again.

"Uh, at the Carousel Boutique." Pinkie said.

I immediately went to that store, and waited until the other 2 came. Then I walked through the wall of the store, where I saw Applejack at a sewing machine, trying to stitch up a dress. At least, I _thought _it was a dress.

And Applejack had the same confusion when she began to release her words into song.

_Looky here at what I made, I think that it's a dress._

_I know it doesn't look like much, I'm under some distress._

_Could y'all give me a hand here and help me fix this mess?_

_My destiny is not pretty, _She looked down at her false cutie mark. 3 diamonds, as I had guessed.

_But it's what my cutie mark is tellin' me._

And that left Rarity with Rainbow's. As I thought about this unusual event, I saw Twilight's expression changed from a confused one to a face of realization.

"Oh, no." She said. "I think I know what's going on!" She immediately left with Spike in tow.

I would have followed her, but I noticed Rarity on the bridge again, still trying to deal with the weather.

And as expected, her singing voice took over as well.

_I'm in love with weather patterns, but the others have concerns._

_For I just gave them frostbite over top of their sunburns._

_I have to keep on trying, for everyone can see,_

_It's got to be, _I suddenly heard Rainbow Dash's voice join her at the same time. But not in the same location. Just the voice.

_It's got to be, _Fluttershy joined them.

_My destiny. _Then Pinkie.

_My destiny. _Then Applejack.

Then they all sung the last lines in unison.

_And it's what my cutie mark,_

_It's what my cutie mark,_

_Yes, it's what my cutie mark is telling me!_

When the song ended, I just stood there, wondering how Twilight got them out of this situation.

"You're about to find out." The light somehow answered my thoughts. "Keep going!"

Whoa. He really _is _my conscience!

Either way, I quickly darted after Twilight.

* * *

"This is bad. This is very, very bad!" Twilight panicked when she walked into the library.

"What's going on? Why is this happening?" Spike asked worriedly as he came in through the library door. Meanwhile, I just walked through the wall.

Twilight immediately started explaining. "Last night when you were taking one of your 7-hour bubble baths," She rolled her eyes at the thought of it. 7-hour? "I got a special delivery from the princess."

"Hey." My conscience suddenly piped up. "Use another teleportation spell. I can show you what she's talking about."

I carried out this order, and when I opened my eyes, I saw that I was still in the library, but at some point during the night. Twilight had answered the door, and taken a package and message from a mailman, (Or mailpony, in this case.) and brought it back inside, even though she forgot to sign a delivery form that the mailman began to take out. Oh, well.

First, Twilight read the letter. "'Dear Twilight Sparkle, the spell contained on the last page of this book is Star Swirl the Bearded's secret unfinished masterpiece.' Ooh!" She looked at the book and shared her excitement like the way she did from the princess summit letter yesterday. Then she continued. "'He was never able to get it right, and thus abandoned it. I believe you are the only pony who can understand and rewrite it. Princess Celestia.'"

Immediately after she finished the letter, she took the unwrapped book and turned to the last page. Before she read the spell, I looked at the book and noticed something. That's the same book Celestia had during the last dream I had! Does that mean this is the entire vision?

Twilight immediately read the spell after my thoughts. "'From one to another, another to one. A mark of one's destiny singled out alone, fulfilled.'"

After she read it, the Element of Magic (which was in sitting in a glass container behind her, along with the other Elements of Harmony) Fired some small beam of magic that changed the colors of the other Elements. Uh-oh.

"That doesn't make any sense. It doesn't even rhyme!" Twilight reacted. Then she just yawned and put the book somewhere else.

"OK. Let me take you back." My inner voice told me.

"Strange that you can't do that yourself." I mentioned.

"I don't have that kind of power." He reminded me.

"Oh, well." I teleported again, taking me back to the moment where Twilight was telling Spike about the incident. Only a few seconds further, to the point where Twilight had taken the book out again.

"I cast the spell so I could find out what it was, but nothing seemed to happen. But now I know something _did_ happen. The spell has changed the Elements of Harmony!" Twilight came to realize. "That must be why their cutie marks are all wrong!"

"So just cast a counter-spell to switch them back." Spike recommended. How can she do that when the spell is unfinished?

Twilight scanned the book anyway, but found nothing. "There is no counter-spell!"

"Why don't you use that memory spell to fix everypony when Discord was here?" Spike suggested.

"It's not their memories, Spike." Twilight reminded him. "It's their true selves that have been altered!"

"Zecora's cure for the cutie pox?" Spike asked. Who's Zecora?

"That won't work, either." Twilight said hopelessly as she went up the stairs while Spike held the book.

"Well... maybe it won't be so bad." Spike tried to look on the bright side of things. Even though there wasn't one. "Maybe our friends will grow to like their new lives."

"No, Spike. They're not who they are meant to be anymore." Twilight, on the other hand, faced the inevitable. "Their destinies have now changed. And it's all my fault..." I heard her voice break a little.

While Spike held the book in his arms, Twilight continued up the staircase, and I followed. Luckily, I could put my feet on the stairs instead of through them.

Twilight just lay there on her bed and began singing a song that was more sorrowful than anything I had ever heard.

_I have to find a way,_

_To make this all okay._

_I can't believe this small mistake,_

_Could have caused so much heartache._

_Oh why, oh why?_

_Something is wrong, it's plain to see._

_This isn't how it's meant to be._

_And you can't see it like I do._

_It's not the life that's meant for you._

_Oh why, oh why?_

I could only imagine the distress and chaos around Ponyville. Even though this was a vision of the past, my heart still sank.

_Losing promise,_

_I don't know what to do._

_Seeking answers,_

_I fear I won't get through to you._

_I'll try,_

_And I'll try._

_I'll try,_

_And I'll try._

Afterwards, she just put her face into her hooves and began crying. Eventually, Spike came over to her.

"Oh, Spike. What have I done?" She said sadly.

I could only sigh.

"Don't worry, Ben." My conscience said to me. "It'll get better."

"I hope so." I replied.

"Well, I _know _so." He countered.

* * *

"Aw, come on, Twilight." Spike tried to assure Twilight, who was now gazing out the window. "You'll figure out a way to fix this. These are your friends."

Twilight turned back to him, and a face of determination appeared on her face. "You're right, Spike."

She went over to the fireplace, and looked at a picture on the mantelpiece that displayed her and the others.

"And they mean more to me than anything." Suddenly, her entire body began glowing a bit. "My friends..."

The glow increased in radiance, and Spike and I averted our eyes. It looked like that familiar emotional power was taking effect.

"Twilight? Are you alright?" Spike asked her.

I carefully walked over to her, and for a split second, I saw that her eyes opened up to reveal a symbol that looked just like her cutie mark. Then she blinked and her eyes were back to normal. "I've got it! I know what to do!"

"You do?" Spike questioned confidently.

Twilight ran downstairs, and I followed to see her grab the Elements of Harmony with her magic, and put on hers. I noticed it was a bit different from her princess crown, though.

"I may not be able to remind them of who they are, but I can show them what they mean to each other. They'll find the part of themselves that's been lost so they can help the friend they care about so much!" She put the other Elements into a small chest that Spike held. "Come on, Spike!"

With that, they both left the library, and I followed them. Again.

They went outside to where Fluttershy was. She was giving some bits to a pink Earth pony with goggles on, possibly to buy a ride to somewhere from the hot air balloon next to them.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight got her attention and came over to her.

"Oh... Hey, Twilight." Fluttershy said gloomily.

"Where are you going?" Twilight asked.

"I'm moving back to Cloudsdale. I don't know what's wrong, but I can't seem to make anypony laugh." To emphasize her point, she deflated a whoopee cushion she had, which didn't really make much noise. Twilight and Spike just exchanged confused looks. And I would have, too. But not because of the lack of comedy. Because she was paying for a trip to Cloudsdale when she could have just flown there herself.

"Before you go, I was wondering if you might be willing to help Rainbow Dash." Twilight said to change the subject. "She's _really_ struggling with her animals."

"But... I don't know anything about animals." Fluttershy spoke up.

"But you _do _know something about Rainbow Dash." Twilight countered.

Fluttershy quickly realized what she meant. "I... know that she's a true friend, and that I'll do anything I can to help her."

So they continued towards the path to Rainbow's apparent home, and I trailed behind them.

* * *

When we made it to the cottage, Twilight raised her hoof to knock, but was interrupted by a large noise that made the door rattle a bit.

"Whoa!" I heard Rainbow from the inside.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight called.

"I'm in here!" She cried out. Twilight opened the door, revealing all the ticked animals surrounding this large cauldron. Rainbow Dash was tied up, and stuffed inside it. "Help! I'm trapped!" Oh, boy.

Fluttershy immediately took action, but in the wrong way. "Hurry, Twilight! Can't you do some sort of spell to get her out?"

"No." Twilight denied. "Fluttershy, you're the only one who can help! Rainbow Dash needs _you_!"

Fluttershy realized this, too. So she approached the animals cautiously, and tried to get their attention. "Um... Hello? Little Woodland creatures?" At first, none of them noticed her, but when she came a bit closer to the mice, that quickly changed. "I know that you're all very upset and feel like giving Rainbow Dash a hard time, but we'd all really appreciate it if you'd calm down and, um, maybe... rest for a bit?"

They all agreed and came over to her curiously. At first, Fluttershy didn't seem to have anything particular planned, but then she got an idea. "Oh! Uh... look! Here's some nice, juicy leaves for you to munch on." She brought a bowl of vegetables over to the rabbits, and they immediately started eating. Then she brought out some nuts for the other rodents and the bear. "And some crunchy, munchy acorns, too."

After she had dealt with them, she went over to the last 3 animals, who were still marching around the victimized Rainbow Dash. "Uh, wouldn't you like to take a break and have a little snack?" The ferret shrugged, and they joined the rest of the animals.

Fluttershy looked at the scene, and admired it. "Aw, look at that. I guess you were all just cranky because you were hungry."

One of the rabbits (who turned out to be Angel) jumped onto her hoof and snuggled with her. Some birds even flew around her joyously. Maybe they were just irritated by the noise. "Oh, you are very welcome, little friends."

Then the bear unexpectedly picked her up and kissed her on the cheek. "Goodness, it's like I can understand them!" Suddenly, she began glowing, like Twilight did back at the library. This prompted Twilight to open the chest that contained the Elements, and take out the Element of Kindness.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy continued experiencing her peculiar state. "I... I feel strange. Like... Like this is what I'm meant to do. Like this is who I am!" She flew up confidently. "My _destiny_!"

Twilight immediately ran over to her, and put the Element of Kindness on her neck. When she did, Fluttershy's pupils suddenly increased in size, and several scenes involving Fluttershy's past flashed in her eyes each millisecond. When it was over, Fluttershy was lying on the floor, but she quickly opened her eyes and looked at Twilight. "Wha... what happened?"

"Fluttershy, look! Your cutie mark!" Twilight pointed out. I looked at it, and it was back to 3 butterflies. Yes!

"It worked! It worked!" Twilight cheered. then she jumped to Fluttershy's side. "Oh, I'm so happy you're back to normal! Now we need your help!"

Twilight began walking confidently towards the door with Fluttershy behind her, and she soon began singing something amazing.

_A true, true friend helps a friend in need._

_A friend will be there to help them see._

Then Fluttershy joined in as they both walked alongside.

_A true, true friend helps a friend in need,_

_To see the light that shines from a true, true friend._

"Uh, hello? Friend trapped inside, remember?" Rainbow, who was still tied up, reminded them. I had forgotten about her, too.

After they untied her, Twilight started up again.

_Rarity needs your help._

They quickly made it back to town, where Rarity was about to surrender to the uncontrollable weather.

_She's trying hard, doing what she can._

Fluttershy piped up.

_Would you try? Just give it a chance._

_You might find that you'll start to understand._

Rainbow Dash flew up and kicked one of the clouds, causing it to evaporate. Then she continued from there, and finished off the rest of the clouds while Twilight and Fluttershy continued singing. Meanwhile, I couldn't help but tap my foot to the music.

_A true, true friend helps a friend in need._

_A friend will be there to help you see._

_A true, true friend helps a friend in need,_

_To see the light that shines from a true, true friend._

Rarity, amazed by this, joined the others who watched Twilight attach the Loyalty Element to a glowing Rainbow's neck. The same effect on Fluttershy occurred with her, and she got back up with a restored memory, and her rightful cutie mark.

"Uh... What just happened?" Rainbow questioned.

"There's no time to explain. But we need your help." Twilight replied. "Applejack's trying to make dresses!"

"Say no more." Rainbow acknowledged.

When they arrived at the Carousel Boutique, where an embarrassed Applejack was trying to work, Rainbow carried on with the singing.

_Applejack needs your help._

_She's trying hard, doing what she can._

_Would you try? Just give it a chance._

_You might find that you'll start to understand._

When Rarity took control of the sewing machine, she went all over the place with the dress designs, while Twilight removed the old dresses from the room and everyone else sung in a chorus. And I was clapping my hand to the beat, even though there was no noise from it.

_A true, true friend helps a friend in need._

_A friend will be there to help them see._

_A true, true friend helps a friend in need,_

_To see the light that shines from a true, true friend._

When Rarity's outline shown brightly, the Element of Generosity was placed on her neck, and her memory returned, along with her cutie mark.

When she woke up, she gasped. "Oh, my. What a terrible dream I had!" Then she noticed one of Applejack's dresses. "Or... Maybe I'm still having it."

"Rarity," Twilight spoke up. "Pinkie Pie is about to lose the apple farm. We need Applejack's help!"

"Lose the apple farm? Well, we can't let that happen, now can we?" Rarity reacted.

Pretty soon, all of them were on the way to Sweet Apple Acres, and Rarity was explaining to Applejack the situation in the form of a song.

_Pinkie Pie is in trouble,_

_We need to get there by her side._

When she displayed the destroyed land that was the apple farm, Applejack immediately took action.

_We can try to do what we can, now._

They made it over to Pinkie, and while the rest of the crew sang in unison, Applejack helped her fix the rain gutter.

_For together we can be her guide!_

From there, Applejack teamed up with her family, and they all started working together to restore the farm, and it didn't take long. And even though the rest of the gang wouldn't notice, I sung along with them, anyway.

_A true, true friend helps a friend in need._

_A friend will be there to help them see._

_A true, true friend helps a friend in need._

_To see the light that shines from a true, true friend_

Now Applejack was back to normal, and she quickly came back over to the rest while throwing her front legs in the air. "Yee-haw! Now _that's _more like it! What's next?"

Twilight immediately responded. "The townspeople are furious. We need the old Pinkie Pie back!"

"I'm on it! I know just the thing!" She turned to a confused Pinkie, and carried her on her back into town again.

_The townspeople need you, they've been sad for a while._

When they arrived, Applejack showed her the angry people wandering the streets.

_They march around, face a frown, and never seem to smile._

_And if you feel like helpin', We'd appreciate a looot,_

Twilight put Pinkie's Laughter Element on, and Applejack pushed her up onto the fountain after putting a set of gag glasses on her.

_If you'd get up there and spread some cheer from here to Canterlot!_

I saw her memory rapidly return, and her hair re-inflated, along with her optimistic personality. Everyone immediately smiled when they noticed her.

"_Come on, ponies! I wanna see you SMILE!_" She screamed with joy as the glasses flew from her face.

"PINKIE!" Everyone cheered.

Next thing I knew, _everyone _began singing to the True Friend song, including me.

_A true, true friend helps a friend in need._

_A friend will be there to help them see._

_A true, true friend helps a friend in need,_

_To see the light! (To see the light!) _Twilight continued with her gang following her.

_That shines! (That shines!)_

_From a true, true frieeend! _They all sang the last line together as they were lifted into the air by Twilight's magic, then they descended back to the ground, embracing each other.

"Now _that _is what I call a big finish!" I said to my conscience confidently.

Then the voice of Twilight suddenly echoed in my mind. "_A mark of one's destiny, singled out alone, fulfilled._" Whoa. What was...?

At the same time, Twilight gasped and opened her eyes, which emitted a small, subtle spark. She then pulled away from her friends and perked up.

"Wait a second, that's it! I understand now! I know how to fix the spell!" Twilight told the others.

I followed them back to the library, where Twilight took out the spell book again, and took out a quillpen.

She said exactly what she wrote. "'_From all of us together, together we're friends. With the marks of our destinies made one, there is magic without end!_'"

She confidently put down the period in the spell, and closed the book with an accomplished smile. But before the others could congratulate her, Twilight's Element suddenly released a large glow that activated the other Elements of Harmony. Each one fired a beam of magic that created some kind of shield around Twilight. At first she panicked a little, but something caused to her to release a calm smile of relaxation. That didn't change the concern of the others, though.

An explosion of light occurred, and when it ended, there was a large black spot from where Twilight was. She had vanished!

Everyone quickly noticed this, and exclaimed in shock. I could only widen my eyes at the sight.

"You want to go after her?" My conscience asked me. "I'm sure you know what to do."

I nodded and teleported, feeling yet another head rush that made me close my eyes.

* * *

When I opened them again, I was back at the heavenly field of stars. But this time, I was with Twilight. Oh my gosh. I think I know what this is!

Twilight, who was not wearing her Element of Harmony anymore, looked around. "Hello?" Her voice echoed throughout the surreal world. "Where am I? What is this place?"

Then, out of nowhere, Celestia appeared with us. "Congratulations, Twilight. I knew you could do it!" Yes! This is the vision! This is what I remember!

Twilight came up to Celestia and embraced her for a second. "Princess... I don't understand. What did I do?"

Well, you didn't die, that's for sure.

"You did something today that's never been done before." Celestia explained. As she did, she used her magic to teleport the spell book to the world with them, and turn to the last page, where the color of Twilight's writing was slightly different compared to the rest of it. "Something even a great unicorn like Star Swirl the Bearded was not able to do, because he did not understand friendship like you do." She then removed it from our eyesight, and continued. "The lessons you've learned here in Ponyville have taught you well. You have proven that you're ready, Twilight."

Celestia began walking on the path of stars, so Twilight and I followed her.

"Ready? ready for what?" Twilight asked.

I realized that would soon be answered when several large, screen-like moments of Twilight's past appeared before us, and created a sort of hallway between us. All of a sudden, it hit me. That first dream I had, where Celestia and Twilight's friends were bowing to her. _That's _why it was familiar! I had seen these moments before in another dream a while ago! When I was 14!

Celestia began singing in a voice that sounded all-around fantastic.

_You've come such a long, long way,_

_And I've watched you from that very first day._

_To see how you might grow,_

_To see what you might do,_

_To see what you've been through,_

_And all the ways you've made me proud of you._

All these moments. All these memories of Twilight's past. The answers I had been looking for. They were all here!

After viewing a certain moment where Twilight and her friends created the Elements of Harmony, the memories faded away, and Twilight stared at Celestia in awe, like I did.

_It's time now for a new change to come._

_You've grown up and your new life has begun._

We had come to the end of the star path, where I felt something extraordinary coming from Twilight.

_To go where you will go,_

_To see what you will see,_

_To find what you will be._

_For it's time for you... _

Twilight and I watched as Celestia spread her wings and rose into the air, doing some kind of spell.

_...to fulfill your destinyyy!_

Her spell took effect, and a piece of Twilight's magic... No, wait. That's not magic. That's... That's her life essence!

The piece of her life essence began circling her, and when it did, several more appeared and made the same motion. I quickly realized something. That looks just like the incident that had occurred to me down at Roth's. Oh my gosh. I think I know what's happening...

She rose into the air, and something suddenly exploded from her heart. Something that engulfed her in a bright light. She went through an extraordinary transformation.

"Quickly!" My conscience told me. "Use the spell! I need to show you something!"

I immediately did so. And when it was over, I found myself standing in the night sky. Then a large, pink star appeared next to me, and its glow shined down on Ponyville below. It was Twilight, in the form of her cutie mark! But I noticed something different. The 5 stars that surrounded it. There was an extra star that had joined them.

"You see that?" My conscience pointed out the extra star. When he spoke up, everything around us slowed to a crawl. "Each one of those stars represents an Element of Harmony. That extra one there represents _yours._"

I couldn't say anything at first. All this was just too amazing. "That means... I really _was _destined to come here!"

"Exactly." He replied. "You see, every universe has a little bit of magic. But in most of them, it is seldom seen. In this world you reside in, magic is part of their nature. In your world, magic comes from the knowledge of your kind, which is why you have your... vessel, we could say. Our friend up there? He chose _you _to come into their world because He knew what was in your heart. He knew you were the right one for the job, so He put a bit of magic into that pin you wore. When you made the ultimate decision to sacrifice yourself to save your sister, that's when its power kicked in. Half of the magic sealed in your badge transferred into you. That's what created your magic. That's why you wield the power you possess."

"I had a feeling it had something to do with that." I reacted with an amazed expression.

"The Element of Courage was sort of a... late entry to the rest of the Elements." He continued to explain. "God was well aware of this, so He brought you to this dimension to give you a choice: Either forget you had ever met these 6, or accept them into your life, and become one of them. Since you made the right decision, and learned about the power in this world, the other half of your pin's magic activated. You became the Spirit of the Element of Courage. The Element you were destined to represent. It's the role you were meant to play in your life."

I could only smile, content with this newly-found knowledge. "Thank you. Thank you so much for bringing me here. You don't know how glad I am to know all this."

"Well, there's one other thing you should know about, too." He noted. "Your friend, Twilight Sparkle? You share a certain magical bond with her. And it isn't the bond of fate that you already discovered for yourself. And it has nothing to do with the wand she made you with her tail hair. It's an _emotional_ bond. You may not know this, but the new feelings you've developed towards her? She feels the same way about you."

My mouth was left agape in amazement. "You mean we...?"

"This isn't something that _needs _to happen." He assured me. "But this would increase your friendship by a pretty big amount. Besides, if there's one person that likes to see young love, it's me..." He paused for a minute. "Do you remember what happened to you back at that store? Well, that specific effect happened for a reason. There are many ways He can give that kind of power to someone. I'm sure you've realized by now how her transformation is similar to that of you gaining your powers, is that correct?"

I nodded.

"The reason your transformation and hers are similar is because of the new bond you share between each other." He told me. "You both share an expertise with magic. But your powers are even stronger because of that emotion. The Power of Friendship alone would have given you enough, but the Power of Love is something that only _you _have the ability to control. The Power of Love is similar to that of Friendship, because only a true friend would care enough to love his other friend like a brother or sister. But the Power of _True_ Love? Well... There's a chance you'll learn about that on your own. It is something I wish you luck with."

I nodded again, filled with this joy that didn't seem to leave me.

"Oh, I almost forgot. You know that pin you currently wear?" He asked. "The one she gave you last night? Well, I took the liberty of putting a pinch of magic into that one myself, so it acts kind of like a mood ring. When you wear it, the magic reacts by sensing the emotion currently resting in your heart. When it does, the pin emits a small glow. The color of that glow represents the emotion you experience. Just a little something I thought I'd reward you with. But... I think we should get back to this. Do you want to see the rest of it?"

I thought for a minute, but I quickly made my decision. "Yes."

"Alright." I don't know what he did, but in just 2 seconds, everything was back to normal speed, and I began descending to the ground with Twilight. She slowly landed in front of the library, where the others were watching her.

"Twilight?" Applejack asked through the warm glow. "Is that you?"

With her eyes closed, she stood up, and then her new wings opened up, revealing them to the others, who could only gasp in amazement. I also noticed her neck and horn had increased length a bit. When Twilight opened her eyes, she noticed the wings and observed them.

Applejack came over. "Wha... I-I've never seen anything like it!"

Suddenly, Rainbow cried out with excitement. "Ha! Twilight's got wings! Awesome! A new flying buddy!"

Then Rarity shared her thoughts on the matter. "Why, you've become an Alicorn. I didn't even know that was possible."

Then Pinkie began screaming with joy while wearing a pair of fake wings and swinging around on a trapeze that came from... Well, I don't really know how she got it hanging in the air. Just as random as she was.

"_Alicorn party!_" She cried out as she blew on a party noisemaker and threw confetti everywhere.

"Wow." Fluttershy said. "You look just like a princess."

Then Celestia, who had been watching them from the sky, descended and joined them. "That's because she _is _a princess." Yep. The words of truth.

Everyone could only react in confusion at first.

"Hold on a second!" Pinkie said as she took a glass of water, drank it, and then spat it out again. Spit-takes. Oh, brother.

"A... A princess?" Twilight asked, as if horrified by this change.

Celestia put a hoof on her chest. "Since you've come to Ponyville, you've displayed the charity, compassion, devotion, integrity, optimism, and of course, the leadership of a true princess."

"But... Does this mean I won't be your student anymore?" Twilight questioned. I had a feeling this part would happen. One dream to another.

"Not in the same way as before." Celestia answered. "I'll still be here to help and guide you, but we're all _your_ students now, too." Then she and the others bowed royally. "You are an inspiration to us all, Twilight."

Twilight could only maintain her worry. "But... what do I do now? Is there a book about being a princess I should read?"

Celestia chuckled a bit. "There will be time for all of that later."

At this point, Twilight could only smile, as I did while remaining unseen.

"I'm sure you'd like to see the coronation." My conscience reacted. "Let me take you to the next day."

I nodded and teleported.

* * *

This time, I had appeared in the Canterlot coronation room, where another celebration was occurring. But this time, for Twilight instead of me.

When everyone had settled down, Celestia began. "We are gathered here today in celebration of a momentous occasion. My most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, has done many extraordinary things since she's lived in Ponyville. She even helped reunite me with my sister, Princess Luna. But today, Twilight Sparkle did something extraordinary. She created new magic, proving without a doubt that she is ready to be crowned Equestria's newest princess." I could actually see Twilight's parents in the crowd, too. "Fillies and gentlecolts, may I present for the very first time..."

The coronation doors opened up, revealing Twilight, who was wearing a special dress, and being followed by a chorus. "Princess Twilight Sparkle!"

_The Princess Twilight cometh_

_Behold, behold_

_A Princess here before us_

_Behold, behold, behold_

When Twilight came up to the front, Spike took out a small container that held Twilight's new crown. The crown I knew. The Element of Magic was sealed inside it as well. Celestia used her magic to put it on her head. When Twilight turned back to the crowd, the Element on her crown released a large twinkle that prompted everyone to cheer.

_Behold, behold (behold, behold)_

_The Princess Twilight cometh_

_Behold, behold (behold, behold)_

_The Princess is_

_The Princess is here!_

When Twilight and the others came out to the balcony, a large (And I mean _large!_) crowd in the city cheered for Twilight.

"Say something, Princess." Celestia said to Twilight.

So Twilight cleared her throat, and gave a speech that brought warmth to my heart. "A little while ago, my teacher and mentor Princess Celestia sent me to live in Ponyville. She sent me to study Friendship, which is something I didn't really care much about. But now, on a day like today, I can honestly say..." She turned to her friends, and motioned for them to come out to the balcony with her. "I wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for the friendships I've made with all of you. Each one of you taught me something about friendship, and for that, I will always be grateful. Today, I consider myself the luckiest pony in Equestria. Thank you, friends. Thank you, everypony!"

"I'll be grateful, too." I said to no one in particular over the cheering.

When Twilight and her friends came back in, Shining Armor came over to her sister. Behind him was... Is that Cadance?

"Twilight! I'm so proud of you!" They touched heads, but quickly pulled away, where I noticed there were tears coming from his eyes.

"Are you crying?" Twilight asked.

Her brother immediately wiped his eyes. "Of course not. It's... It's liquid pride. Totally different thing."

They both just laughed and embraced each other before backing up.

"Way to go, Princess!" Applejack complimented.

"Best coronation day _ever!_" Pinkie excitedly screamed.

"We love you, Twilight." Fluttershy said as they all joined in for a group hug.

"I love you too, girls." Twilight replied.

"I guess that's what you meant by the Power of Love being similar to Friendship." I said to my conscience.

"Exactly." He told me. "Now come on. Let me show you the big finish."

When I teleported, I was brought outside, where a carriage pulled Twilight outside. She sung one last song that was similar to the first one I had heard from her.

_Life in Equestria shimmers,_

_Life in Equestria shines._

_And I know for absolute certain,_

She jumped from the carriage and began leading her friends, who started singing as well.

_That everythi-ing,_

_Yes, everythi-ing,_

_Yes, everything is certainly fi-ine._

_It's fiiine._

Then Twilight looked at her friends with assurance. "Yes! Everything's gonna be just fine!" They all did a final group hug.

I sighed warmly. "I would have loved this."

"Well, everyone has his or her time." My conscience replied. "Besides, while this was happening here, you were heading home back in your universe. Anyway, you've seen enough. I'll take you back."

When I teleported, we had arrived back at the field of lights. Again.

"That's all I wanted to show you." He said to me when he finally emerged from my wand. "I know I was showing you other moments of her past, and I apologize for that. I was practicing that power. But now that I've told you everything, I'm sure you know what it means."

"Every part of it." I answered. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." He told me. "Now, as your conscience, I can not be seen by your other friends. Otherwise, I'll lose my occupation as your guide. I'll be able to contact you again in the real world, but only when you're alone. Do you understand?"

"Perfectly clear." I assured him.

"Alright, then. From here on in, we are officially inseparable." He sealed himself back inside my wand. But permanently, this time. "Oh, by the way, you can call me Leo."

"Leo?" I questioned.

"Like the constellation." He clarified.

"Oh, yeah." I remember going to an observatory for a field trip once. There was that lion-shaped constellation I saw.

"You're gonna be waking up eventually. So prepare for the next day." He warned me. "See you soon."

"Roger that." I told him.

After that, the glow of my wand faded away, and the entire wand disappeared, back to reality. Then I felt myself undergo an interesting change. The color of my body had returned, and I suddenly noticed someone appear in the distance and approach me. It was a familiar, dark blue Alicorn.

"Princess Luna?" I asked. "Is that you?"

"Greetings, Benjamin." She simply said.

"How the heck are you...?" I began to ask.

"As the Princess of The Night, I have the capability to enter one's dream." She explained. "I use this power to aid me in my royal duties. I've come here because I felt something... strange about your dream. Almost as if you had entered Princess Twilight's mind. Is everything alright?"

I began to panic a little, knowing what would happen if I told her. But then I heard a voice in my head that only I could hear.

"She's an exception." Leo said to me. "You can tell her."

Hearing this, I looked up at her with a calm expression. "You might wanna sit down. I've got a lot to tell you."

* * *

So we both sat down, and I told her everything Leo had shown me. I also told her about the special bond Twilight and I had formed.

"Hmm. That _is _peculiar." Luna expressed after I had finished. "Strange that your conscience has the ability to do that."

"Well, I'm afraid that's a power I can't explain." I admitted as I got back up on my feet. "But I _can _tell you this: Now that you know, you can't tell anyone. I'll lose him as my guide if you do."

"You have my word, Guardian." She assured me. "And I'm glad you've told me this. Otherwise, my concern would increase, and I'd eventually find out the hard way."

I just nodded with acknowledgement and relief.

Then she got up, too. "I've enjoyed this conversation, but I'm afraid I have to go now. The dawn is coming and I need to lower the moon. Besides, if you wake up with me still here, the part of me that travels into dreams will be stuck in your mind until the next dream you have. I hope we can catch up during the summit." She turned away from me and began walking away from my sight.

"See you there, Luna." I said my goodbye, and she returned a comforting smile before fading away.

When she left, I felt something else change. Everything else around me was fading away, including me. But I knew what was happening. I was just waking up. My eyes began to droop a bit too.

When I finally closed them, my entire position changed until I felt like I was lying in my bed. Just before I lost consciousness, I realized something.

I don't think I need to tell Twilight about this now...

* * *

**Luna**

* * *

When I opened my eyes and removed myself from my bed, I looked out the window to see the moon still in the air. I'll soon fix that.

Suddenly, the door behind me opened up, and when I turned, I saw my sister.

"Oh, thank goodness." She expressed with relief. "I thought you'd be too late."

"Don't worry, my sister." I assured her. "I've just woken up, and I'm ready to carry on with my duty."

"You don't usually sleep during the night." She said, concerned. But that quickly changed to realization. "Whose dream did you visit?"

I just turned to the moon, and began to lower it with my magic.

"Let's just say The Guardian has been given a guide from an old friend of his." I replied. "And it isn't me."

"Oh, really?" She asked. "And who might that be?"

When I finished lowering the moon, I turned to my sister, and replied solemnly.

"I'm afraid the only 2 who are supposed to know that are me and Benjamin."


	9. A Bit of Exploration

**KingTobi: Well, I hope you have something positive to say about this one too!**

**Note: Hold onto your hats, because Equestria Girls is coming up next! It might take time, though. I've been enrolled in Sprague High School. And because of this, I'm gonna be working on the chapters overtime!**

**If you wanna see what moments I'm talking about during the Castle Rock song, one of those soundtracks in my profile description is the exact video I'm talking about. You can skip to the minute and second marks I mention in this chapter. Or you can listen to the whole thing, and just enjoy the music!**

Episode 9 - A Bit of Exploration

* * *

My eyes popped open, and I felt fully awake. But instead of getting out of bed on my own, I teleported out, and into my shoes. In the light of recent events, I had gotten a bit into teleporting.

Once again grabbing my wand and coat, I confidently went downstairs and into the kitchen, where Twilight was eating some of that hay cereal.

"Morning, Ben!" She greeted cheerfully. "I can see you've actually made it through the night with that pin on."

"Well, I said I wouldn't take it off, and I'm gonna keep my word." I reassured her.

"Like that promise you made to Celestia through that letter?" Twilight asked.

I grabbed an apple from the bowl on the counter. "Yeah. But I was more serious with the pin. Like you said, something to remember you by."

She giggled hearing that. "OK, then."

I took a bite out of the apple, then I left the room. When I saw a clock on the wall that said 8:50 AM, I went outside to my ship. When I climbed in and turned it on, I opened YouTube on the Google Chrome page. I decided to listen to a few songs from there, because that's what I'd usually do on a cloudless morning like this. Turns out, the ship even had speakers installed somewhere inside.

The first song I decided to listen to was the title theme from Rayman Legends. When I got that game for the Xbox 360 at Christmas last year, I _loved _it! And I had Rayman Origins before that, so since I knew the controls, I had unlocked almost everything in just a week! But the thing that really blew me away was the music. The title theme was awesome enough, but the music levels? Sometimes I played through Castle Rock over and over again _just _to hear the song! It was _that _good!

After listening to the title theme for a few minutes, I ended up finding a new remix of Castle Rock. It was a tricked out version of the song, only without the gibberish singing from the characters, which was instead replaced with more electric guitar. I immediately clicked it and listened. At first, it started with some simple percussion, but when the electric guitar kicked in, it just got better and better. The song was actually a Rayman version of Black Betty from Ram Jam, only shorter, and quicker in rhythm, making it even better from my point of view.

The whole time it played, I was doing air guitar, only I was using my left hand for the strumming, which was apparently the wrong way to do it. But who the heck cares? You play the right music, I'm all over the place!

The entire video was 1 minute and 52 minutes long. But my favorite part started at the 1:21 mark, and ended at the 1:34 mark. For the last 10 seconds, I actually stood up in my seat, and really let myself go with the air guitar.

When it was finished, I heard the library door open, and saw Twilight come out.

"Ben? Was that _you_ playing the music?" She questioned.

I smiled nervously and blushed a little. In some cases, I'm not exactly a guy that performs in front of a crowd. At least, if you count Twilight a crowd.

"I, uh... I kinda let the music get the best of me." I admitted.

"Was that music coming from your ship?" Twilight asked.

"Yep." I replied. "One of the many benefits of the internet."

"The internet?" She tilted her head a bit, displaying curiosity. "What's that?"

I thought for a minute before responding. "Uh... I don't know if I could explain that kind of technology. It's pretty complicated."

As a reaction to this, Twilight brought a wooden crate over, and stood up on it so she was right next to me, and at the same height. "Please. When I'm not with my friends, my idea of fun is practicing complex math equations, and rereading history books. Besides, if I know the square root of Pi by heart, then I'm pretty sure I'll be able to understand something like this." She was smiling the whole time.

Well, _this _is a bit different from her usual attitude. I guess she's serious about this.

I sent her a playful smirk. "Then what's the square root of Pi?" I challenged.

"1.77245385091." She quickly answered.

To see if she was right, I opened a tab on the computer, and typed in "Square root of Pi" in the search bar. When I hit the Enter button, this is what came up in the calculator's result.

**1.77245385091**

My jaw dropped in amazement after I saw these numbers. I turned back to Twilight without changing my expression. So she changed it for me by putting a hoof out and closing my mouth.

"Whoa." That was the only word that came out of my mouth when I had come to my senses.

"So how did your ship do that?" She asked me.

It was official. She had talked me into this. "Well, technically the ship can't do that on its own. There's a device called a computer installed inside the ship. It's got several features and applications, with one of them being a math calculator. When I typed 'Square root of Pi' in the search bar, the computer automatically identified that as a math calculation, and it displayed the answer. And that's just one of its many uses. It has several others, like a website called YouTube, where you can watch videos that people record, or Facebook, where you can chat with your friends online. How the computer itself works, I'd probably have to look that up myself, to be honest. I think it has something to do with translating binary code, but I'm not really sure. I didn't exactly pay attention to Computer Literacy class that well."

"So you basically press a button, and the letter it represents appears on the screen?" She guessed.

"Yeah, but I don't think you can do it properly without fingers." I warned her. She seemed to want to try it herself.

But instead of using her hoof, her horn began glowing, and she used her magic to press down the keys and type "Hello" in the search bar.

Afterwards, she sent me an accomplished smile. "Who said I needed fingers?"

I just smiled back. "Clever."

* * *

Eventually, Twilight went back into the library, leaving me to my music again. But it wasn't just Rayman Legends soundtrack. There was also music from this mature-rated game that I accidentally found on the internet 2 years ago.

It was called Conker: Live and Reloaded, a game that was actually a remastered version of the original Conker's Bad Fur Day. For some reason, the RareWare game company thought it was a good idea to give a game with crude humor and cussing a cartoon-esque theme. Don't ask me why they'd do something as weird as that, but I didn't look at the game rating on the title when I first saw it. So when I saw cartoon squirrels with guns and other weapons on the cover, I thought it was something like Everyone 10 and up.

For a guy as old as me, there actually _is _an upside to Live and Reloaded. Most of the music is definitely something anyone would like listening to, especially the title theme. But aside from that, I steer clear from the rest of the game's content. Even if I was old enough, I don't play games as creepy as that.

After a while, I decided to turn it off and just sit in the ship. I knew what tomorrow had in store for me and the others, so I figured I'd just wait it out, since I had nothing to pack. I did have to remember my coat and wand, but I'm usually a guy with good memory when it comes to that kind of thing.

I looked up into the sky, and when I did, I saw Rainbow Dash flying and kicking clouds through the air as if they were changelings. It's like that's her job or something. Wait... Actually, that _is _her job. She's a weather manager. What am I saying?

Oh, well. At least it's something to do. Now that I think about it, what am I doing just sitting here? I should get up and head through town or something. Or maybe...?

The answer I needed quickly came to me. I've already got a basic idea on what most of Ponyville is like. Maybe I'll just take a look around myself, and see if I missed anything.

I jumped from my ship, and closed the cockpit before starting the walk through town. It was a pretty normal walk, but it gave me time to think about what my conscience had said to me last night.

So, my power _isn't _Equestrian magic after all. I guess that explains its strength. But how strong is it in comparison? Or maybe the question is, how strong _could _it be? After what happened yesterday, it seems like there isn't even a limit to my magic. Oh, that'd be interesting. What if there _isn't_? Oh, wait. Would that be something I have to worry about? If my magic has no limit, does that mean it'll be too powerful for me to control on my own? Would I _lose _it?

But how could I _lose _my magic? I was given it by _God_! Why would I lose a power from Him? If He's immortal, then what He gives to me should be immortal too, right? Then again, He gave me my life. Life isn't forever. At least, not _this _one.

Thinking about this subject caused me to stop walking altogether, which turned out to be a bad idea. Because when I looked up again, I saw a large carriage coming at me with high speed. And no one was controlling it!

"_WHOA_!" I shut my eyes and flinched, unable to get out of the way in time. But instead of feeling pain, I felt that tingly magic feeling from my hands again, which escalated to something even greater in a split second. It only lasted for so long, but it felt like my body had dissolved into ash, and then back again.

I didn't know how, since I didn't see it. But whatever happened was probably why I heard a wooden crash behind me instead of hearing my bones being split. When I opened my eyes again, I looked behind me and saw that the carriage had rammed straight into a cluster of barrels that each contained a juice-like liquid. Applejack's cider, if I recall correctly. But at the moment, I was more concerned on how the carriage didn't hit me.

I looked at my hands, which hadn't changed at all. All they did was emit that blue glow, like they usually did. Hm. Maybe I can look into it later.

I walked over to the crashed carriage and the display of damaged barrels. Apparently, the carriage had dropped several crates on the way here. A delivery carriage, maybe? Ah, never mind that. I gotta get this thing out of the wreckage.

A bunch of townspeople had noticed the incident, and watched as I drew my wand to use a specific trick I had learned yesterday. I fired a blue magical rope from the tip of my wand, which wrapped around a wooden bar on the back of the carriage. The wand was still connected to the rope, so I pulled the wand to make the carriage back away from the barrels.

When it was done, I retracted the rope from the carriage and back into the wand. Then I checked the carriage. It didn't look like it had taken any real damage. No scratches or anything. Just a bit of cider on the front bumper, which I wiped off. Obviously, the same condition couldn't be said for the barrels.

Then Applejack came over and looked at the now empty barrels with shock. "My cider! It's run dry!" She noticed me with the carriage. "Ben? What in tarnation are you doin' with that wagon?"

I immediately defended myself. "Don't worry, this wasn't my fault. I was just getting the carriage out of the way."

"Well, then who's responsible?" I could tell she was upset. "This cider ain't cheap, ya know."

"Oh, no!" I heard a voice from behind me. When I turned, I saw a gray, blonde-haired pegasus fly over to us with a look of worry on her face. Her cutie mark was a cluster of bubbles, but the thing that really got my attention was her eyes. They were somehow altered so that her left eye was pointing upward, and the other was normal.

"Oh, what am I gonna do?" The pegasus cried out as she looked over the carriage. "I won't be able to clean this up in time!"

"It was you?" Applejack asked the upset flyer.

"I'm so sorry!" She apologized. "I didn't know the brake wasn't set on the carriage. I'm supposed to have all these packages delivered by 12:00, but _now _look!" She pointed her hoof to the trail of crates. "I'll _never _finish my delivery now!"

"Not if I'm here." I intervened. To prove it, I fired levitation at each of the boxes, and quickly brought them all into the carriage in a stacked pile.

The pegasus quickly changed her expression to a relieved one. "Oh, wow! Maybe now I can get my work done early!"

Then she came up, stood on her hind legs, and frantically shook my hand with her 2 front hooves. "Thanks so much, uh..." She pulled away and scratched her head. "What's your name?"

Well, at least she's not bothered by my looks. "Ben Cooney."

Hearing that name caused her to gasp in amazement. "The _Guardian_?! Oh my gosh, I've heard of you! Actually, now that I think about it, my sister and I saw you walking through town with Princess Twilight 2 days ago. You saved Canterlot from those changelings!"

I scratched my head. "Well, it's not like I had a choice. Those creeps had _everyone_ captive. It's not like I was gonna _let _them take over the city. I'm not like that."

"That's really cool." She complimented. "My name's Ditsy Doo. But you can call me Derpy. I moved to Ponyville from Cloudsdale."

"Derpy, huh? Nice." I replied.

"Are you from Equestria, too?" She asked me. "Or are you from a different land, like Zecora?"

These question easily rung a bell. "Who the heck is Zecora?"

"She's a zebra that lives in the Everfree Forest." She explained. "She comes to Ponyville sometimes to look for plants. I never asked why, though."

A zebra? I think I found out where to go first.

"Anyway, I wish I could talk to you some more, but I gotta go." Derpy went over to the carriage and put on the saddle attached to it. "Hey. If you wanna hang out, then meet me at Sugarcube Corner after 12:00, OK?"

I nodded with a smile, and she prepared to take off with all the crates and packages safely inside. But she suddenly stopped when she stepped in a puddle of the cider on the ground, refreshing her memory.

She looked up at Applejack, who was mopping up the mess. "Um... I won't need to pay for the damage, right?"

"No, it's OK." Applejack assured her. "To be honest, this isn't the first time. I'm startin' to think maybe I should move my apple cart to another spot."

So Derpy trotted off with a smile on her face. As soon as she was out of sight, I suddenly realized I forgot to ask about her eyes. Oh, well. Maybe I can ask her about that later. In the meantime, I've got a forest to visit.

* * *

I quickly found a path outside town that led me to a large forest that seemed a bit... dark. And I don't mean absence-of-light type dark. I mean the kind of dark that gives you that strange, unsettling feeling when walking through town at night. Either way, when I looked down the path that led into the forest, I wondered how a zebra would be capable of living in a place as weird as this.

Maybe she just has her ways. Hopefully, she won't mind a visitor.

I reluctantly went down the path, and into the forest, making sure my wand was equipped, just in case. Throughout the entire walk, I kept looking around, in case I was being watched by someone. Or some_thing_, in this case.

At one point, it got so dark, I had to use a flashlight spell to actually see my hand in front of my face. How the heck does it get this dark during the day? Does the Everfree Forest have a bit of magic itself? Or is it just creepy on its own? Well, at least I'm able to see the path ahead of me.

Eventually, the sunlight returned, revealing my new location. So I put my wand back, and looked around. I stumbled upon a rope bridge that led to a very open area. In the middle of it all, there was a large, damaged building with a few spires around it. Some kind of decayed castle. Probably abandoned for at least a century or so. Either way, seeing the castle in its ancient state made me feel a bit adventurous. I felt the need to check it out, and look for this Zecora person later.

"Wow!" I expressed as I walked across the bridge. "Looks like this thing took a trip to Hell and ba-"

The startling feeling of adrenaline interrupted my words when one of the ropes holding the bridge up snapped, flipping the bridge on its side, and making me lose my footing. For a second, I thought I was gonna fall to my death, but I managed to snap out of it and grab the railing before gravity could take me any further down.

At first, I didn't really have a plan for getting out of this predicament, since I didn't wanna risk falling if I tried to grab my wand. But in just 30 seconds or so, the answer automatically came to me in the form of a hooded, 4-legged figure.

"Oh my goodness! What happened here?" The character asked with a foreign female accent. She inspected the snapped rope. "I thought this rope was firmly secure."

Here? Secure? What? Is she purposefully trying to make that rhyme?

"Um... A little help?" I tried to get her attention.

She immediately heard me, and looked at where I was. When she did, she removed the hood from her head, revealing her face. She was white, striped black, and there was a set of gold rings on her neck and her left leg. A zebra! The reason I went into this forest in the first place!

"Zecora?" I tried to check if it was actually her. No idea if there would be a tribe of zebras here or not, but I figured I'd just take a shot in the dark.

"How do you know my name?" She returned. "Is it knowledge from Ponyville that you gained?" OK, apparently she _was _speaking in rhyme.

"Uh, you could say that." I responded indignantly. "Can you help me out of this?"

"To bring you over here myself, I don't think so." She looked down at the seemingly endless pit I was dangling over. "Whatever's down there, I probably don't want to know. Do you think you could come a bit closer? Maybe then I could pull you over."

I looked up at the bridge I was holding onto, and brought my other arm up, grabbing it and using both hands to make my way to Zecora's side. When I got close enough, she wrapped her hoof around my arm and pulled me up.

"Thanks." I told her when I got up on my feet. "Didn't think the bridge would just collapse like that. It kinda caught me off guard."

"I would have felt the same, too." She agreed as we began walking away from the bridge. "So who and what are you?"

"Well, I can definitely tell you I'm not from Equestria." I began. "But it's a pretty long story."

"My folk love listening to stories of old." She countered. "What kind of tale does your life hold?"

* * *

Eventually, we had arrived at her home, which turned out to be a hollow tree trunk, kind of like Twilight's library, but not as big. Anyway, when we got there, I had told Zecora about pretty much everything that had happened, and why I decided to live in Equestria.

"I've been here for something like 4 days, and I've learned a _lot _about this world." I finished. "It just feels great to be here."

"I am glad to hear that from you." She replied as she stirred a pinkish liquid in the cauldron she had in the middle of her room. "I have learned to enjoy Equestria too."

I started looking around at the potions on the shelves. "So, uh... Where are you from?"

"I come from a land far away." She began. "What it is called, I cannot say. I have the talent of creating brews that save my kind from pain and flus. But there were more potions than I would have known. So I decided to venture on my own. When I found this hollow tree, I took residence in it, you see." She came up to me as I continued looking at the potions. "These potions and brews are my form of art. But to make them without practice can prove to be hard. Sometimes I travel to Ponyville to search for needed plants, or help those who are ill."

"Really? How many people do you know there?" I asked.

"I have met the 6 friends that you know." She answered. "It was a rather rude greeting, though."

"Rude? What do you mean? Those guys are great." I objected.

"Don't worry, Benjamin. I have those feelings, too." She assured me. "It's just that when we first met, they had a different point of view."

She gladly told me about the day she met Twilight and the others. Apparently, everyone in Ponyville feared her because they thought she was an enchantress or something. When Twilight and the others fell victim to this plant called Poison Joke, they assumed Zecora had cursed them. At first, Twilight didn't believe they were cursed, but she eventually gave up and assumed the same. But Zecora managed to clear things up, saying she was creating a bathing potion to cure them.

"Huh. I wonder what the effects of the Poison Joke were." I said after she was finished explaining.

Suddenly, the door to Zecora's hut swung open, revealing Twilight. When she saw me, she seemed incredibly relieved.

"There you are!" She came up to me. "Where have you been? I've been looking for you all over town." She wasn't angry or anything. But she seemed pretty concerned.

"Don't worry, I was just paying Zecora a visit." I responded.

"Yeah, but you didn't tell me." She countered. "I had no idea where you went."

I quickly realized she was right, and felt a little embarrassed. "Oh. Sorry."

"It's alright. Just be careful next time, OK?"

"Well, I appreciate you stopping by." Zecora piped up as she put on her hood again. "But I need to find an herb from a bonsai. So our little visit has ended, since I do not trust leaving my home unattended."

"We understand." Twilight assured her. "Come on, Ben. Let's head back to the town."

I nodded, and we all left the hut, leaving Zecora to her business.

* * *

A little later, Twilight and I were in town, heading back to the library. But on the way, I couldn't help but look back towards the forest, thinking about that castle.

When I did, Twilight noticed. "What is it?"

"I, uh... I found something in that forest earlier." I answered. "A really old castle. Looked like it was attacked by Chrysalis and her army."

"You mean the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters?" She inquired.

"Oh, is that what it's called?" I asked.

"Yeah. It's where we found the Elements of Harmony." She replied. "It's also where I realized that my friends were... well, my friends. And because of that, the Elements of Harmony were created. The Magic of Friendship is what brought us together, and the Elements remind us of that. I probably didn't tell you this yet, but we used the Elements of Harmony to aid us throughout our quests to defend Equestria."

"Really? How many times?" I questioned.

"Well, from what I remember, there are only 2 times we didn't use them to save Equestria." She explained. "There was the first changeling invasion, where Shining Armor and Cadance used the Magic of Love to repel them instead, and then there was the time I was sent to the Crystal Empire to defeat King Sombra. All we needed to do was find the Crystal Heart, and bring it to the center tower. When we did that, the love and hope of the Crystal Ponies brought out the long-lost magic of the Empire, and King Sombra was permanently banished. A lot has happened since then, like my change to a princess. But then there's your coming to Equestria. That _definitely _changed things for us."

I released a comforting and flattered smile.

"But... I still can't make any sense on why we didn't have the Element of Courage in the first place." She continued. "I mean, if all the Elements are needed to take effect, then why did our Elements work without yours?"

I thought about that, and remembered what Leo told me about the 7th Element. "Maybe the other Elements didn't _need_ mine at the time. The way I see it, my Element of Harmony was just a late entry to the others, like I was a late entry to your group. I mean, I am its spirit. If the Element of Courage just appeared on its own, that wouldn't make sense. Actually... That might explain why it came from my pin. Courage is something I have in my heart. And if it comes from my heart, then it eventually has to be revealed in order to actually create the Element."

Twilight gasped. "I think you're right! That's how we discovered _our_ Elements. Applejack revealed how truthful she was to me when I was in doubt, Pinkie Pie kept her positive side by laughing in the face of danger, Rarity proved her generosity by sacrificing something to help a serpent, Fluttershy displayed her kindness when she helped a manticore without any aggression, Rainbow Dash presented her loyalty to us when she refused to abandon us for her heart's desire, and when I saw what they really meant to me... When I saw the light of Friendship, the main Element was made. When those 5 Elements are put together, they create Friendship, which is a form of magic. Therefore creating the Element of Magic."

"Sounds simple enough." I reacted.

"Yeah, but then there's you." She stated. "You represent the Element that nopony knew existed. And like the rest of us, it came from your heart. But you didn't just stand up to Queen Chrysalis and her army. You stood up to me, too. I told you to stay in Ponyville, and make sure you didn't come to Canterlot to help us. But you did anyway. That actually revealed more courage than you think. It's something I learned a while back, too. But in a different way. It takes a lot of bravery to stand up to your greatest enemies, but it takes even _more _bravery to stand up to your friends, and persist in the face of doubt. You did just that, and you also stood up for what you believed in. And at that moment, you believed you could defeat the Changeling Queen. And with the right weapon, you did. That's what created your Element of Harmony."

"And now look at me." I said. "I'm back to my regular self, and better than ever!"

"And don't you forget it." She reminded me.

I just nodded with agreement. But then I remembered something I should have kept track of. To make sure I wasn't late, I pulled out my watch from my coat pocket and checked the time. 11:54. OK, I've got enough time to meet her there.

I looked up again. "Hey, Twilight. I gotta head to Sugarcube Corner real quick."

"Why? Is it urgent?" She asked.

"Well, I promised to meet someone there." I replied. "Can't let her down."

"Really? Who?"

"A pegasus named Derpy." I answered. "I helped her out earlier today, and I agreed to see her at the bakery."

"Oh, OK." She quickly accepted. "I'll come meet you there when I finish making my packing checklist."

"Got it." With those words said, I separated from my teacher, and started the walk to the bakery.

* * *

It didn't take long to get to Sugarcube Corner. I already knew how close it was to the library, so I found it pretty easy. When I walked in, I immediately caught sight of a gray pegasus walking into the kitchen with a baker's hat on. What's she doing?

I followed her through the door. "Hey, Derpy! What are you doing?"

She turned around to face me. "Oh, hi Ben! You're just in time. Wanna help me make some muffins?"

"Sure!" I quickly accepted, remembering the time I helped Pinkie make those S'mores cupcakes before. "What kind?"

"Chocolate chip." She came over to me and put a bag of flour in my hands. "Here. Hold this while I get the rest of the ingredients."

While she searched the cupboards, I made sure the bag didn't fall out of my hands, which proved to be a bit harder than expected, since it was heavier than I thought.

"Hey, watcha doin'?" A voice behind me asked. When I turned, I saw it was Pinkie Pie, who was also wearing a baker hat.

"Oh, hey Pinkie." I greeted. "Just helping Derpy with some muffins."

"Oh, yeah. I remember helping her out as a customer!" She recalled. "She was desperate for muffins at the time."

"I don't blame her." I agreed. "I enjoy a decent blueberry muffin myself."

"Can I help?" She asked. "I'm a professional baker!"

"Why not? The more the merrier." I accepted.

"Okey-dokey-lokey!" She happily hopped over and looked through the recipe book that Derpy had brought out. "Ah, chocolate chips! That's a classic!"

Then Derpy came back with a bag of chocolate chips, a bag of sugar, a bucket labeled "Wheat Germ", and a box of baking soda. This prompted me to put the flour on the table, as she did with the rest of the ingredients.

"OK, we're ready to start." Derpy told us. But she stopped when she saw Pinkie. "Oh, is she helping?"

"Yeah. She's one of my friends." I answered.

"Great! She can help with the measurements." She turned to the book. "OK. For this batch, we need 2 cups of chocolate chips, 3 cups of flour, 1 pint of wheat germ, 4 cups of baking soda, and half a cup of sugar. You guys do that, and I'll take care of the eggs and stuff."

"I got the wheat germ!" Pinkie excitedly took the bucket and began measuring it, while I took the chocolate chip bag, and a regular-sized measuring cup. When we both met the requirements, we both took another measuring cup each, and switched to the baking soda and flour. As I poured in the flour, I remembered a question I was meaning to ask.

So I moved a bit closer to Derpy as she cracked an egg over a bowl, almost dropping the shell in with the yolk. "So, Derpy. Not to be rude, but how did your eyes get like that?"

She threw the eggshell in the trash and turned to me. "What, these things? Oh, don't worry. It doesn't affect my sight or anything, if that's what you're wondering. Actually, it's a special trick I learned to do when I was a filly. Watch." She closed her eyes for a few seconds, and when she opened them again, the left eye was facing forward like her other one, which easily impressed me.

Then she closed them again, and it was back to the cross-eyed look. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"Wow. And that doesn't hurt?" I asked.

"Nope." She shook her head. "Sometimes I can use this trick to look up without actually moving my head, but other times I just keep my eyes like this for fun. It actually shows off part of my personality. I was always known for being a bit clumsy. Not that anypony teased me about it, but I _am_ remembered for making certain mistakes in the past. One time, I accidentally damaged the roof of the town hall building trying to help Rainbow Dash set it up for a celebration." She laughed a little. "But if there's one thing I'm _definitely_ remembered for, it's my talent for baking muffins. I loved eating them when I was a filly, and I eventually decided to learn how to make them on my own. That's why I'm planning on having a bake sale with these muffins we're making. But you and Pinkie can have one each when they're done."

"Oh, thanks." I expressed my gratitude. But I was interrupted when I realized I had accidentally poured a bunch of flour on the table. "Oops."

This caused Derpy to laugh some more. "I guess I'm not the only klutz here!"

I drew my wand. "Let me try and clean this up." I fired up my magic and used levitation to pick up most of the flour, and put it back in the bag.

"I'll get the rest of it for you." Derpy took a small towel and wiped the rest of the flour off the table. "There we go. Now you can't even tell."

"Alrighty! I'm ready!" Pinkie came over to us with 2 measuring cups. One with wheat germ, and the other with baking soda.

"OK, put them in this bowl." Derpy brought over a bowl filled with egg yolk, and Pinkie poured the contents of the cups into it. Then I put in the flour.

But Derpy's happy expression changed to a confused one when she looked in the bowl and scrunched up her nose. "Where's the sugar?"

"I'll get it." I immediately turned to get the sugar bag, but for some reason, it wasn't there. "Hey, where'd it go?"

"Oh, that's easy. Twilight's got it." Pinkie answered as she pointed to the door.

"What?" I looked up and saw an Alicorn holding a measuring cup of sugar with her magic. "Oh, Twilight! You made it!"

"Told you I'd come with you." She replied. "So how much sugar do you need?"

When Derpy saw Twilight, she gasped. "Princess Twilight? Oh my gosh! Should I bow?"

"No, it's alright." Twilight assured her. "No need to worry about me. I'm still the same pony."

"Oh, OK." She acknowledged. "In that case, let's get these muffins ready!"

So Twilight put the sugar in the mixing bowl, and Derpy stirred it until it was a brown-colored batter. Then she poured a little of the mix into each portion of a muffin tray, and put it in the oven. Then we all decided to wait at a table outside the kitchen. At least, Derpy, Twilight and I did. Pinkie just stayed in the kitchen and stared at the timer, which probably wasn't gonna pass the time quicker.

"So, Derpy." Twilight piped up while we waited. "How long have you been making muffins?"

"Um... For a while, actually." Derpy answered. "But I can't quite remember how long it's been since I made my first batch. When I was a filly, I loved having muffins for breakfast, so I eventually decided to try and learn how to bake them myself."

"What kind of muffins were they?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"You know. What flavor was your first batch?" I clarified.

"Oh." She rubbed her chin. "Well, I do know that batch wasn't the _very _first try. I tried making muffins before that, but I always ended up making a big mess. But I finally managed to succeed in making 10 Bran muffins one day. Ever since then, I've been baking more of 'em in my free time."

"Well, that's a really nice hobby." Twilight complimented.

"How many different flavors have you made before?" I questioned.

This time, she scratched her head. "Well, let's see... There's Chocolate chip, Blueberry, Bran, Poppy seed, Apple cinnamon... Oh! There was one time during Nightmare Night, when I made muffins with candy in them. Everypony _loved _them."

"Nightmare Night?" I asked Twilight.

"It's a celebration we have on October 31st." She answered.

Oh, so Nightmare Night is their Halloween. OK.

Suddenly, we heard a bell ringing from the kitchen, and the scream of an excited Pinkie Pie. "_The muffins are readyyyy_!"

We all immediately got up and went into the kitchen, where Pinkie was taking the muffins out of the oven.

"Pinkie, you do realize we could have heard the timer from out there, right?" I reminded her.

She turned to us after she sniffed the muffins. "Yeah, I know that."

I turned to Twilight with a raised eyebrow, and she just returned with a smile.

"Typical Pinkie Pie." She said, causing a smile to appear on my face too.

* * *

After the muffins had cooled down, we all helped Derpy put up a Bake Sale stand outside her house, which happened to be nearby Sugarcube Corner. And as a way of thanking us, Derpy gave each of us a muffin. I've bought muffins at Roth's before, but compared to Derpy's muffin, the store-bought ones weren't _nearly _as good! It was one of the best muffins I've ever tasted, if not _the _best.

After we finished our muffins, Pinkie began making her way back to the bakery to take care of the Cakes' babies, while Twilight began heading back to the library for lunch. I intended to go with Twilight, but not before checking with something.

"So do you need any more help with the sale, or can you take it from here?" I asked Derpy.

"Nah, I'll be fine." She replied. "I'll let my little sister help out when she comes back from visiting her friends."

"OK, then." I began walking away to make sure I didn't lose Twilight. "Good luck, Derpy! Catch you later!"

After she waved goodbye, I took off after Twilight until I had completely caught up with her.

"I don't know how many times Derpy's practiced with baking, but she's _really _good at making those muffins!" Twilight commented. "That one was delicious."

"I had the same thoughts about the muffin, but I'd rather not hang out with her just for the muffins." I responded with a smile. "She's a really nice pegasus. I'm glad I met her."

"Hey, where _did _you 2 meet, anyway?" She asked.

"I helped her out with a wrecked delivery carriage she lost." I told her. "But... It was kinda strange. The way she lost the carriage almost caused me a serious injury. But it never happened. It came rolling right at me at high speed. But before it hit me, I flinched, and I suddenly felt my magic take effect for some reason. So instead of lying on the ground in pain, I heard the carriage crash into a bunch of apple barrels directly behind me."

"Are you saying it went _through _you?" She inquired. "Because I'm pretty sure that's not how teleportation works."

"I don't really know." I admitted. "It might have come from my hand magic, but all I did was open my hands when I flinched like this." I flicked my hands open so they exposed my palm, but when I did, I got a pretty big surprise. Immediately after I flicked it, a bunch of blue sparks emerged from my palm and began swarming around my body.

"What the...?" In just 3 seconds, the sparks had changed my body so it looked like I was a blue, living neon light!

"Whoa! What happened to you?" Twilight exclaimed.

I just looked at myself. "This has _got _to be part of my magic."

"Well, obviously!" She agreed. "But _what_ part of your magic?"

"No idea, but I'm gonna find out." I walked over to a tree nearby and tried putting my hand on it. But instead of touching it, I ended up putting my entire arm through it! I could see my hand peeking out the other side!

Knowledgeable of this, I removed my hand from the tree and thought for a minute. "Yep. _That_ part of my magic." The second after I said this, my body changed back to normal.

Twilight came over and held my hand up with her hoof. "Interesting. I guess that's another power that can prove to be useful in the future."

"I wonder what else it's capable of?" I said.

"Maybe we can find out later." Twilight opened the door to the library, which was right next to us. "For now, let's get something to eat."

We both went in the library, and got some food. And as it turns out, I _could _use that orange-to-apple spell to change hay to meat. So the 2 of us sat out on the balcony, with one of us eating a ham and cheese sandwich, and the other eating a daffodil and daisy sandwich. Twilight read a book while eating her sandwich, and I just leaned my back on the railing of the balcony while eating.

"Uh... This doesn't seem unusual to you, does it?" I asked Twilight.

She looked at me after eating another part of her sandwich. "What seems unusual?"

"Well, you know. I'm technically an omnivore, you're an herbivore..." I reminded her. "Doesn't that seem weird?"

"Not at all." She answered. "I mean, _I'm_ definitely not bothered by it. Besides, Spike eats gemstones. Not much of a difference."

"OK, good." I took another bite out of my sandwich. "Didn't know if that would change anything between us. I mean, we're friends. Friendship is a great thing."

"Of course it is." She agreed. "But I think..." She seemed hesitant about continuing her sentence. Like she was disturbed about something.

My concern got the best of me. "What is it? You OK?"

"Oh, never mind. It's not important." She turned her head away a bit, but I could tell she was blushing.

I didn't say anything. I just formed a light smile on my face. I might have blushed a little myself. Either way, I knew what she meant. If Leo told me about it, then this was probably a sign that it was true.

After that conversation, we both ate without another word.

* * *

The rest of the day was pretty straight-forward. Aside from practicing my new power, nothing much turned up. Apparently, I can't just use this "Neon" power to travel through solid objects. I can also use it to travel at a faster pace, and run up walls, which can prove to be very helpful in certain situations. I would have practiced more, but it took a lot of time and energy to practice those abilities, and Twilight intended to head to bed early to prepare for the summit tomorrow.

Apparently, the train ride from Ponyville to the Crystal Empire was gonna be a long trip, since the station would be packed, and several of them would make extra stops tomorrow. So we had to catch one as soon as possible to get there by the next night.

At 8:10, Twilight called the others to the library to make sure they would be prepared.

"So, you all know what to pack?" Twilight checked with everyone.

Everyone replied with agreement.

"And you know what time we'll be leaving tomorrow?" She continued.

"7:30!" They all stated at the same time.

"OK. Then make sure you're ready, and we'll meet at the train station tomorrow!" She finished.

"Alright!" They all exclaimed as they each formed a circle, and put a hoof out and on each other's. Then they all looked at me, waiting for me to join in, which I didn't really expect at first. But when I looked at their smiling faces, I solemnly put my hand in with them, and released a confident smile. Afterwards, we all threw hand and hooves in the air and cheered, and then everyone but me and Twilight went separate ways.

After Twilight closed the door, she turned to Spike, who had put some of her possessions in a backpack. "OK, Spike. Crown?"

He took out a checklist and a quill, marking something off the list. "Check."

"Saddlebag?" She progressed.

Spike marked another one. "Check."

"Ben's spell book?"

"Check." He marked the list a third time.

"That's it, then. We're ready for tomorrow." Twilight stated. "Come on. Let's get some sleep."

With that said, all 3 of us went upstairs, shut off the lights, and climbed into each of our beds.

"I just know this princess summit is gonna be amazing." Twilight said as she pulled the covers over herself.

"I think so, too." I agreed. "A trip to the Crystal Empire sounds like a good way to spend tomorrow."

"Believe me, it will." She assured me. "See you tomorrow."

"K."

So, with nothing else to say to each other, we got into a comfortable position, and began to doze off. As my eyes began to close on their own, I could see a small glow coming from the pin on my chest. Based on how I felt, I knew what emotion it meant.

Bright blue. The feeling of joy.


	10. Equestria Girls: Prologue

**Prologue**

* * *

"So why was I allowed to tell Luna about you?" I asked.

The blue light that was my conscience rotated a bit, as if to turn and watch the stars floating throughout the heavenly atmosphere. "Because I know what she's capable of. If she has access to one's mind when that person is living through a dream, she'll know when I'm showing you a certain time period. It's part of her magic."

I thought for a moment before continuing with my questions. "Does that mean she's the _only_ exception?"

"Yes. But that's not the only reason I can't show you past visions as frequently." He replied.

I was definitely unaware of this. "What do you mean?"

He immediately began explaining. "Taking you to your friend's memories involves traveling through the Rift. The Rift is a type of gap that maintains balance between multiple realities. It keeps them connected, but it also keeps them separated. I can only use my 'dream power' so many times before the Rift begins to break. It can be fixed in time, but it isn't a quick procedure. So I need to be careful when to use that ability, otherwise the Rift will shatter, and it'll be unable to repair itself."

"The Rift, huh?" I put a hand to my chin. My mind was racing with these thoughts and questions. "What happens when the Rift breaks?"

"Let's just say it can put every existing universe in great danger." Leo answered. "But there are other ways to do so. One way is exposing a certain ability or power to a universe that is not knowledgeable of it. Like using your magic, or the Elements of Harmony."

"The Elements of Harmony? What do those have to do with this?" I questioned.

"Let me put it this way. The Elements of Harmony are a very powerful collection of artifacts. Bringing just one of the Elements to an alternate world would not only upset the Rift's durability even more, but it would also put the residents of the given universe in great peril. If someone of evil intention found one of the Elements, that person would be capable of a magic that is darker than the Devil himself."

"Wait. You're saying an Element of Harmony can use its magic even if it's not in its home universe?" I asked.

"Technically, yes." He responded solemnly. "You keep your powers in different dimensions, too. But that can be particularly dangerous at times, which is why you should be careful when to use them."

"Then I'll make sure not to expose my magic to the wrong people." I promised.

"Good. I trust you to keep that promise." He said in a content way. "So, that being said... How are you and Twilight?"

Not only did that catch me off guard, but it also filled me with embarrassment. "Uh..."

"Oh. Sorry." Leo apologized. "Didn't mean it like that."

I just shook my head. "No, it's OK. Actually, she and I are doing fine. I just haven't said anything yet. But I think she's starting to show her feelings a bit." I remembered when she kept quiet about something yesterday during lunch.

"Well, that's how the bond of Friendship works. It's basically a spark between 2 people." He said. "If the bond between those 2 strengthens in a certain way, then that spark ignites into a fire. A fire of love."

I just kept a blank face. "Yeah, but it seems kinda strange. She's an Alicorn, I'm a human... I don't see how that kind of relationship would even work. Wouldn't she have to be a human, too?"

At first, he was silent. But he responded with something that brought me to immediate realization.

"It's the compassion and good heart that counts, Ben. Not the appearance."

That question caused me to reflect back on what Twilight had said to me before. Those exact words echoed in my head.

_"You think we wouldn't greet a newcomer to Equestria? Besides, based on what I just saw you do, you deserve to be one of us."_

Celestia was right. She really _did _have every right to say that. But that wasn't just a compliment. That was something a true friend would say. That's what made me accept this world into my life. That's what created the spark. The spark between the 2 of us.

"Actually..." Leo piped up again. "There's a chance she'll admit it first. You never know..."

I nodded with a smile. "Thanks, Leo."

"Don't mention it." He assured me. "You're lucky, you know. I'm not usually supposed to tell anyone these things. But He trusts you enough to heed these words. You're called The Guardian for a reason. You and your friends are destined for greatness." Then he sealed himself back inside my wand, which began to disappear. "Anyway, I'm gonna have to leave you to your business now. You'll be arriving soon."

I could tell, since my eyes began to droop a bit, and everything around me started to fade away. Eventually, everything went as dark as the Void, and my eyes had automatically closed.

Time for the trip back to reality...


	11. Equestria Girls: Part 1

**Note: Not only have I changed my story pic, but I also posted a few extra pics in my profile description. And there's more to come. Stay tuned!**

* * *

_A legendary warrior once said, "In the right possession, magic can be used for extraordinary things."  
__But what would happen if that kind of power fell into the wrong hands?  
__Would it require all the strength of a certain hero to bring a relic of great capability back into proper custody?  
__Or would it require a different kind of magic?  
__Because with the Magic of Friendship, anything is possible._

From the creator of **The Guardian of Equestria**...

Rebecca Shoichet as Sunset Shimmer

in...

**My Little Pony: Equestria Girls**

Episode 11 - Part 1: When Universes Collide

* * *

_Hey, Ben. We're here. Ben? Ben, wake up._

The sound of a train whistle made me open my eyes. I immediately saw Twilight's face. She was nudging me with her hoof, trying to get me up.

Feeling properly awake, I pulled my head up and looked around. There was barely any sunlight peering in through the windows, and the train wasn't going quite as fast as I remembered.

"Were you _trying_ to fall asleep?" Twilight asked me when she put her hoof down.

"Uh... Not exactly." To be honest, all I intended to do was watch the landscape pass from the window as the train continued to the Crystal Empire. But apparently, Leo had used his powers to make me lose consciousness altogether, just so I could talk with him.

"Well, it probably made the trip faster for you either way." Twilight said. "Come over here. I wanna show you something."

I got up and followed her to the other side of the car, which had begun to slow down a bit.

"Look out the window." Twilight instructed me.

When I did, I saw something so incredible, I had to rub my eyes to make sure I was actually seeing right. Out on the horizon, there was a gleaming city with a large, gem-like tower that stood proudly in the center. There was no word to describe its beauty. This has to be it. This has to be the place.

"Welcome to the Crystal Empire." Twilight proudly answered my thoughts.

"Whoa... It's fantastic!" I exclaimed. "I've never seen a place as amazing as this!"

"If you think that's something, then wait 'till you see the castle!" She replied. "Come on. Let's get our stuff."

She led me back to the car where everyone else was, and they all got their bags and possessions, which were taken by royal guards when we left the train. Spike kept Twilight's bag, though. He's her Number 1 Assistant for a reason.

As we walked through the city, I had time to admire its appearance. The Crystal Ponies really _did _look like living gems! I could almost see my reflection from looking at them. And the castle had the same description. But looking at it from up close was a bit different, since it towered over everything.

We eventually got close enough to see a heart-shaped crystal magically held between 2 vertical spires. It was rapidly spinning with no sign of stopping.

"That there is the Crystal Heart." Twilight pointed out. "It powers the harmony and love of the citizens here."

"You mean the city is _fueled _by love?" I inquired.

"Well, I wouldn't say 'fueled', but if that's the way you wanna put it, then yes." She answered.

I scratched my head. "Sounds kinda strange that the changelings didn't try to attack this place instead."

"They probably didn't know about its return." Twilight assumed. "Besides, there's a chance it'd be too far for them to travel to."

We kept walking towards the castle until we were right next to the Crystal Heart. From there, everyone except me and Twilight began to wander freely around the city's center.

"Hoo-wee!" Applejack expressed as she walked alongside Twilight. "Your very first princess summit! You must be over the moon, Twilight."

Twilight turned to her right to face Applejack. "Oh. I am excited. But, to be honest... I'm a little nervous, too."

Before I could react to this statement, Pinkie suddenly appeared in front of us. "You're nervicited! It's like you wanna jump up and down and yell '_Yay, me_!' But you also wanna curl up in a teeny-tiny ball and hide at the same time!" She did these exact actions as a way of demonstrating. Then she got back up and playfully ruffled Twilight's hair. "We've all been there!"

"I'm there almost every day." Fluttershy commented.

"What's to worry about?" I asked Twilight. "You're here to see the royal family, and we'll be by your side throughout the entire time. I mean, _I_ definitely don't see any problem with that."

"Exactly." Applejack agreed. "You've got no reason to fret, Twi. Everything's gonna be just-"

"_Twilight_!" Rarity suddenly came up to Twilight with widened eyes, interrupting Applejack and totally taking me by surprise. "Oh, sorry, darling." She looked over Twilight's head. "But I just realized you're not wearing your crown. You haven't forgotten it back in Ponyville, have you?"

"It's in my bag." Twilight quickly replied as she glanced towards the bag Spike had with him. "I just feel a little self-conscious about wearing it." She opened up her wings, too. "Haven't really gotten accustomed these yet, either." She even tried flapping them to get above the ground like Rainbow Dash was, but failed quickly. So I helped her up.

"Ah, don't worry about those things." Rainbow assured her as she flipped herself over, flying upside-down. "I'll be able to get you up and in the air before you know it!"

"Easy for you to say." I remarked as I watched her continue to hover with her body tilted.

"You are a princess now, Twilight! Embrace it." Rarity encouraged her. "I'm telling you, if I had a crown like that, I would never take it off. Why, I'd _sleep_ in the thing."

I just rolled my eyes while smiling. I don't find _that _hard to believe.

Twilight easily led us to the castle doors nearby. When we approached them, they opened on their own, and revealed a large hallway.

We were greeted by another Crystal Pony dressed as a royal guard. "Ah. Princess Twilight. You made it. All of you, come with me. They're waiting for you in the throne room."

He escorted us down the hallway, and approached a large pair of doors at the very end of the corridor. When the guard opened them, we were greeted by a royal fanfare, and a trio of Alicorns at the front. One being Celestia, another being Luna, and I quickly realized the pink one was Cadance.

"Her highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle!" The guard announced as we all walked up to the rest of the Royalty.

Cadance came up to Twilight and the 2 touched noses sentimentally.

"Twilight! I haven't seen you since the coronation!" Cadance said.

I stayed with the rest of the group, but then Cadance shot a look towards me. "And I assume you're The Guardian?"

I came up to them. "You heard about the invasion, too?"

"Who wouldn't?" She replied. "When a new hero reveals his face in Equestria, everypony eventually learns about him."

I scratched my head, feeling a bit flattered. "I guess news can travel fast around these parts."

"We have so much to discuss." Celestia chimed in. "But it can wait until tomorrow. You all look tired from your journey."

I turned to the others and quickly realized she was right. Everyone seemed a bit fatigued from the 13-hour train ride. Meanwhile, I was so wide awake, I'd probably be able to work an entire night shift at the Heroes Academy!

"Now, off to bed, all of you." Celestia told us. "The guards will lead you to your rooms."

I nodded with acknowledgement, and turned to follow everyone else.

* * *

I sat in the bed next to Twilight's and watched her and Spike unpack, since all I had brought was my coat, my wand, and my new pin. Of course, Twilight remembered to bring my spell book, so... Yeah. There's that.

I watched Twilight as she put her crown on and observed herself through the mirror. But instead of smiling, she seemed bothered by something.

My concern got the best of me. "You OK?"

She sighed. "Not really... I'm actually kind of worried."

"About what?" I couldn't really see anything to worry about, but I wasn't technically looking at life through her eyes.

"My possible future as a princess, I guess." She answered as she turned around. "Princess Cadance was given the Crystal Empire to rule over. What if now that I'm a princess, Celestia expects me to lead a kingdom of my own?"

I couldn't really find a way to respond to that, so Spike came up and did it for me. "That would be _awesome_!"

"No, it would _not_!" Twilight denied as she went over to her bed. "Just because I have this crown and these wings, it doesn't mean I'll be a good leader!" She climbed into her bed and used her magic to put the crown on the lamp table nearby.

"What are you talking about?" I reacted. "You're a _great _leader! You've led your friends to victory with every situation you've encountered, and you're leading me through my new life here, not to mention teaching me everything about magic. To be honest, that sounds like a pretty weak assumption. Don't you think?"

Twilight's expression didn't change. "There's a difference between leading your friends and leading a kingdom, Ben."

"That's not the point." I replied. "My point is, no matter what quest, mission, or task you're given by Celestia, I'll be by your side to help you with it."

"We all will." Spike added as he came over and turned off the lamp. "Now come on. We should get some shut-eye. Big day tomorrow."

To help out, I snapped my fingers and the blanket on Twilight's bed covered her as she got comfortable. Then I just lay down in my bed and stared up at the ceiling without actually going to sleep. Because I can tell you from experience that if you try to force yourself to sleep when you're not actually in the mood, then you'll just end up staying awake longer.

But in just a few seconds, I heard Twilight grunting with agitation.

"Can't... tuck..." I glanced over to her and saw that she was trying to adjust her wings, which kept opening up randomly. Strange. She seemed to have control over those before.

"Just trying to get comfortable!" She cried out as she shoved them closed. "There we go."

She got back into her sleeping position, but I had a feeling it wouldn't last long. And I was proven right when her wings suddenly popped straight up, sending the blanket into the air, and causing Twilight to groan in an annoyed way.

Trying not to laugh, I got up from my bed and came over to her. "Here. Let me help." I removed the blanket and carefully took ahold of her right wing.

Twilight was easily confused. "Ben, what are you...?"

"Hold on." I touched the rim of the wing, and felt a lot of muscle on it. "Thought so. You're putting a lot of tension on the wings. You gotta relax and ease the muscles, so they'll retract on their own. Otherwise, they'll just stick out."

Twilight tried just that by taking a deep breath, and sure enough, they ended up folding in. "How'd you know about that?"

"When I was 10, I had this tendency to stiffen my legs when trying to sleep. I ended up kicking the habit after I pulled a muscle one night. Hurt for days." I answered as I climbed back into my own bed. "I had a feeling you were doing something similar to the wings."

Twilight just released a thankful smile and got back into bed, while I got into mine and continued with my ceiling-gazing.

I couldn't stop thinking about the information Leo had given me. I had no idea it would be that dangerous to reveal my powers to the wrong reality. But the part about the Rift is what _really _got my attention.

If the Rift separates every existing universe, but also keeps them connected, what would happen if it shatters? Would it permanently separate every universe and make it impossible to travel from one to another? Or would it cause them to collide together and eventually be wiped from existence? And why would the Elements of Harmony play a vital role in this? Is Leo trying to warn me about something?

But then there's me and Twilight. What's gonna happen between the 2 of us? Did she actually mean it when she said to put that incident behind us? Or did she just need time?

When my eyes began drooping, I knew I wouldn't have time to think about this anymore tonight. I didn't even have the energy to get up and take my coat off.

Pretty soon, I was unconscious, and prepared to wait for the next day.

* * *

"Huh? What?"

A loud thud and Spike's voice prompted me to wake up. I immediately sat up and turned to the source of the noise, and noticed light coming from the open door. Didn't I close that?

I turned to Spike, who had also woken up. "Spike, what happened?"

But that was already answered for me when I saw a hooded figure appear next to the door. I instantly realized it wasn't Twilight, since she was getting up in her bed, too. But _then _I saw something gold and pink sticking out of the saddlebag. Twilight's crown?!

When Twilight turned to see what I was staring at, she gasped. "My crown! She's got my crown!"

I immediately jumped from my bed and into my shoes after grabbing my wand, and tried hitting the intruder with magic. But she had already took off down the hallway, forcing me to chase after her.

"Stop! Thief!" I could hear Twilight coming up from behind me, but I didn't bother to look back. "She's stolen my crown!"

Everyone else had woken up and began to give chase to this criminal, whom I repeatedly tried to shoot with magic. But every shot just hit the wall. Not really easy to hit a moving target while you're moving, too.

When the thief turned a corner, I tried to do the same, but the floor was so slippery, I couldn't do so properly, and I ended up skidded into the wall face-first.

"Ow!" I held my bruised head and watched everyone else continue after the intruder. "Dang it! When did they wax this floor?!"

Now that I was behind the rest of the group, I could only watch as Twilight tried teleporting in front of the thief to stop her. But this failed when the thief teleported herself past Twilight, revealing her body, and leaving the cloak in Twilight's face. She had a red and yellow hair color, her body color was a gold type of yellow, and she still had the crown contained in the saddlebag she wore.

Twilight removed the cloak and continued running after her. And she was beginning to catch up, too. I realized I needed to do the same, so I put my wand back, jumped, and flicked my hands open, activating my Neon magic and letting me reach the target by running across the wall until I was directly above her.

I jumped down and tried to tackle her from the side, but Twilight jumped from behind and did it herself, sending both her and the thief into a dark room, and causing the stolen crown to fly out of the saddlebag, and bounce all around the room.

In a desperate move, I jumped up and tried to catch the crown in midair. But instead of grabbing it, I hit it with my hand and sent it spinning towards a large mirror. But it didn't hit the mirror like I thought it would. It somehow went _into _it!

"What the heck?!" I exclaimed while everyone else gasped.

"What did you do with my crown?!" Twilight interrogated the intruder, who released an accomplished smile.

"Sorry it had to be this way..." She replied in a cruel way before teleporting over to the mirror. "...Princess." Then she jumped straight into the mirror, leaving me to clench my teeth with fury, and everyone else in shock.

"Who was that?" Fluttershy wondered.

I drew my wand again, which began violently emitting bright red sparks, displaying my anger. "I don't know, but I'm gonna find out!"

I ran up to the mirror and tried to jump in, but I was suddenly grabbed by Twilight's magic.

"You can't! We don't know what that is!" She told me as she put me down.

I glanced at the mirror, then back at the others. Realizing she was right, I groaned with frustration and began to think. And the answer to our problem quickly hit me when light came in through the window, courtesy of the sun being raised into the sky.

"We gotta tell Celestia! Maybe she can help!" I ran out into the hallway and motioned for the others to follow. "Come on!"

* * *

We made it to the throne room, and told Celestia, Luna, and Cadance what had happened. When I told Celestia what the thief looked like, a concerned expression appeared on her face.

"I believe that was Sunset Shimmer you encountered." She said.

"Who?" I asked.

"Sunset Shimmer, a former student of mine." She replied. "She began her studies with me not long before Twilight. But when she did not get what she wanted as quickly as she liked, she turned cruel and dishonest. I tried to help her, but she eventually decided to abandon her studies and pursue her own path." She turned to Twilight. "One that has sadly led to her stealing your crown."

A former student? Someone crazy enough to break into the castle was Celestia's former student?

Spike came up and took out a crown similar to the original, but it looked really bland, and reflected less. "She replaced Twilight's with this one."

"Wait... Lemme see that." I took it from him and observed it, quickly recognizing the material. "Plastic? Where would she find a plastic crown that looks just like Twilight's?"

Celestia came a bit closer and observed it herself. "I suppose Sunset Shimmer thought you wouldn't notice right away that this was not yours. And by the time you did, it would be too late to go after your crown and Element of Harmony." She was clearly directing this to Twilight.

She began to walk towards the doors, and out of the throne room. So we all went with her.

"But I don't understand. Where did she go? Where did she take the crown?" Twilight asked worriedly.

"You'll soon know more about this place than even I do." She answered.

These words caused me to stop walking for a second. "You mean you don't know what it is?"

She turned back to me. "I think it's best that I keep my knowledge for this alternate world at a minimum."

"Alternate world?" Twilight questioned.

Everyone suddenly turned towards me, and I just stood there with confusion in my eyes.

Another universe?! Oh, man, we're in a lot of trouble...

* * *

We were all brought back to the room where the mirror was, and I began to observe it up close.

I felt around the border of the mirror, and turned to Luna. "So what kind of magic does this thing have?" I even tried knocking on the glass, but instead of tapping it with my fist, my entire hand went through it, like some kind of liquid. Almost immediately, I pulled it out and backed away a bit. "Whoa."

"This is no ordinary mirror." Luna answered as she stared at her reflection. "It is a gateway to another world. A gateway that opens once every 30 moons."

30 moons? That's almost 2 and a half years!

Suddenly, Pinkie came up and put her hoof on the glass, intrigued by its effect on my hand. "Sparkly!"

Luna used her magic to remove Pinkie's hoof from the glass, and move her away from the mirror.

"So it's like a portal to another dimension or something?" I guessed.

"In a way, yes." Luna replied. "The Crystal Mirror has always been kept in the throne room of Canterlot Castle. But when Princess Cadance took over the Crystal Empire, we sent it here for her to watch over."

Celestia came up from behind with a slightly depressed face. "I had always hoped that Sunset Shimmer would someday use it to return, to come back to Equestria seeking my guidance... Obviously, this is not what has happened."

"You're right there." I agreed. "I don't know what would drive anyone to insanity like that, but I've actually seen it before. And it's not pretty." I was basically describing the White House incident. "Either way, she's crazy thinking she can get away with this."

"Twilight, you must use the mirror to go into this other world and retrieve your crown." Cadance urged. "Without it, the other Elements of Harmony have no power and Equestria is left without one of its most important means of defense."

Twilight walked closer to the mirror, and nodded.

"Your crown does not belong in the place Sunset Shimmer now calls home." Luna stated. "And in her possession, your Element of Harmony will no doubt be used to bring harm to the inhabitants of this other realm. They will not have the power to defend themselves."

What? That's what Leo told _me_!

Then Luna used her magic to take the plastic crown out of my left hand, put it into Twilight's saddlebag, and place that onto Twilight.

"You understand the importance of your task?" Celestia asked.

Twilight turned to her. "Of course."

"Good. Then you must go at once." Celestia ordered.

Twilight took a deep breath and began to walk towards the mirror. But Rainbow Dash suddenly jumped up and landed right in front of her.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" She halted as everyone else stepped up to join her. "She's goin', we're goin' with her! Right, girls?"

I smiled and came up to them. "I was hoping you'd say that."

"Oooooh!" Pinkie squealed. "I'm so nervicited!"

"You do realize that's not a real word, right?" Applejack reminded.

Twilight smiled with gratitude, but Celestia suddenly objected. "I'm afraid I can't let you go."

Rainbow immediately protested. "What?! Why not?!"

"Sending all of you could upset the balance of this alternate world, creating havoc that would make it impossible for Twilight to get the crown back from Sunset Shimmer." She answered. "This is something Princess Twilight must do alone."

Of course! What was I thinking? The Rift!

"Time is of the essence." Luna informed as she prepared a bit of magic to reveal a portrait of the moon. "On the 3rd day, when the moon reaches its peak in the night sky, the gateway will close. And once it does, it will be another 30 moons before you will be able to use it to return."

That immediately filled me with worry. Twilight's my friend! I don't wanna see her go in that thing and be stuck there for 2 and a half years! No one should have to wait for a friend that long. Now I _really _wanted to go with her! And the fact that I couldn't just built on my fear even more.

As Twilight drew closer to the mirror, everyone gave her words of assurance, but I could tell they were worried as much as I was. And I didn't blame them.

I could only watch as Twilight put her hoof onto the glass, then prepare to travel into the mirror. But while she did that, I suddenly heard a familiar voice inside my head.

"_Ben! You have to go after her! All of reality is in danger!_" It was Leo! And no one else could hear him!

"_Leo?_" I tried communicating with him through my thoughts. "_What are you...?_"

He ended up responding. "_No time to explain! Just follow her into that dimension! If you don't, all of creation will be destroyed! And she'll be wiped out along with it! Go! NOW!_"

He sounded serious as heck. I looked towards the mirror as Twilight began to put her entire self into it. Oh, no. She _can't_ do it alone. She needs help! She needs a... a guardian!

I narrowed my eyes with determination, and charged right at the mirror without hesitating.

"Ben! Wait!" Everyone screamed for me to stop, but I didn't listen.

Before anyone could try and hold me back, I jumped through the mirror, and immediately got a huge case of head rush as I felt myself being forced through this large vortex of extreme velocity. Like traveling through that wormhole, only crazier. I thought I could hear Twilight crying out in the middle of it all, so I made sure not to lose consciousness as my speed increased.

And in just a few seconds...

* * *

"Ow!" I shut my eyes in pain and felt the back of my head. The skin had been scraped a bit after landing on the ground somewhere.

I sat up and shook my head. "Man, that's gonna hurt in the morning."

Then I heard a familiar voice groaning. "Ugh... What happened?"

I immediately turned my head towards the voice. "Twilight?"

But when I actually saw her, I couldn't believe my eyes! It was her, but at the same time, it _wasn't_! My eyes widened greatly, and I dropped my jaw in shock.

"Uh... Twilight?" I heard another voice close by, and turned to see a green and purple dog next to Twilight, sharing the bewilderment. Is that...?

"Huh? Ben?" Twilight, in her apparent new appearance, first looked at me, then at the dog. "Spike? You 2 aren't supposed to-" She stopped when she got a better look at Spike. "Spike? Are you a... dog?"

He took a look at himself, somehow not knowing that he was walking with 4 paws. "I... think so." He glanced back at Twilight. "But... What happened to _you_?"

"What?" She asked, obviously not knowing what she had turned into.

When she turned to me, I just kept my state of surprise. "Twilight... You're a..."

She brought her new arms up and saw her hands, basically answering my thoughts. But that wasn't the only thing that had changed. Her entire body had somehow formed into a familiar bipedal figure with clothes, a backpack that was once her saddlebag, and shoes. She had become the one thing I never thought I'd see her as. She was a _human_!

The second she saw her hands, she screamed for a good 5 seconds before covering her mouth. Then she began observing herself, and reacting a bit frantically. And it kinda reached its peak when she began hyperventilating in panic. Meanwhile, Spike seemed to have no trouble whatsoever with his new body.

But before I could try to calm her down, Spike spoke up first. "Twilight, you have to get it together!"

I shot an annoyed look towards him. "Says the guy who's already adjusted to being a canine!" I turned back to Twilight. "Twilight, are you OK? How'd this happen?"

She began to calm down a bit. "I... I don't know." She put her arms down on the ground. "What... does the rest of me look like?"

"Um... Like you. Only _not _you." Spike answered. "You're kind of like Ben, actually. And your muzzle's really small."

"My _muzzle_?!" She felt her nose, which had obviously decreased in size, due to her new human form.

Twilight began to get hysterical again, so I kneeled down and put a hand on her shoulder. "Twilight, calm down. You're acting like you lost a limb."

"Sorry." She apologized. "I just... I don't know what's happening to me."

"Well... Apparently, you've changed into a human." I explained. "I don't know how, but... There probably has to be a reason for it."

She widened her eyes. "I'm a _human_? Oh my gosh."

"Where are we, anyway?" Spike asked as he looked around.

When I got up on my feet and did the same, I actually noticed a bus traveling on a street not too far off.

"Hey..." I realized. "That's something from _my _world!"

Spike caught sight of the same vehicle. "It is?"

Twilight gasped. "Does that mean this is _your_ dimension?"

"It can't be!" I denied. "My world doesn't even have magic..." I suddenly remembered the Crystal Mirror. "Speaking of which, how did we even get here?"

Twilight turned towards a large statue we were next to. Its base seemed to be rippling a bit. "Hmm."

When she put up her arm, it ended up going through the glass, revealing her hoof for a brief second. Well, I suppose that explains why she's a human. Maybe her kind doesn't even exist here.

"That must be the gateway back to Equestria." Twilight assumed.

"Good." I acknowledged. "We're gonna need to head back here the second we find the crown."

"My thoughts exactly." Twilight agreed as she looked towards a building nearby. "And I suggest we start searching the castle first."

"Castle? That's not a-"

"Works for me." When Spike jumped on Twilight's back, I immediately realized she was gonna try moving on her hands and knees.

So I stopped her before she tried anything that would attract attention. "Twilight, hold on a second. You can't get around like that. You're a human now, remember?"

"Oh... Right." She replied, a bit embarrassed.

After Spike jumped off her back, she looked down at her hands, and slowly began to push herself up onto her feet. While she did that, I observed the building a little more.

"Yeah... This doesn't look _anything_ like a castle." I concluded. "Looks more like a school building to me. But if Sunset Shimmer is here, then I'm more than ready to give her a piece of my mind."

When she stood up, she immediately began to lose her balance. So I grabbed her hand to make sure she didn't fall over.

"Careful." I warned.

She just nodded and proceeded to balance herself when I let go. After about 4 seconds or so, she managed to stand up normally.

"I know this is a bit strange, but we can't risk drawing a crowd with you walking like you're used to." I informed her as she made careful attempts to move forward. "That doesn't mean you have to worry, though. I'll be able to help you through this."

"Good." She said as she gripped the railing of the stairs that led to the doors. "Because I do _not _wanna be like this for longer than I have to right now... Uh, no offense."

"None taken." I assured her. "Actually, you might get used to it if we stay here long enough. Who knows?"

"Look on the bright side." Spike added. "You don't have those pesky wings to worry about anymore."

Twilight just reacted with narrowed eyes, clearly not amused with his comment.

"That reminds me." I turned to Spike. "You might wanna keep down the chatter while we're here. Dogs don't exactly talk."

"In that case, my lips are sealed." He even did that lip-zipper motion with his paw.

When I opened the door to the building, we walked in and looked around the empty space. I caught sight of several things that gave me the impression on what this place actually was. A second floor, trophies behind glass, and a nearby hallway with green lockers.

Yep. This is a school, alright.

I even saw a large banner on the wall that read "Canterlot High". And apparently, so did Twilight. Because she read it out loud.

"'Canterlot High'? What?" Obviously, she had no idea what all this was.

"A high school." I answered. "Must be the middle of a class period."

"Class period?" She asked.

"During a class period, everyone's usually in their classroom." I explained. "Up until the bell rings, that is."

"The bell? What bell?"

Before I could say anything, a loud bell conveniently answered my thoughts, and almost immediately, a huge crowd of students began pouring out certain doors and walking through the halls.

"Uh, yeah. _That _bell." I grabbed her arm. "Come on."

I carefully managed to back her up the doors, where we could stay out of everyone's way. While we took cover there, I noticed something odd about the students wandering the building. Their skin colors weren't actually... Well, skin colors. It wasn't reduced to brown and pinkish-white. It extended to pretty much any color you'd find in a paint store. There were a few that actually had familiar colors, but the rest of them were bright blue, green, or any other type. Like Twilight's skin being the same lavender color I remember.

Are these human versions of people from Equestria?

"This _definitely _isn't my dimension." I confirmed.

I turned to Twilight, who was holding Spike in her hands and looking around at the crowd. I suddenly remembered another school rule, and opened Twilight's backpack.

"Ben, what are you doing?" I heard her over the crowd's chattering.

I examined the inside of the backpack. Seems roomy enough for him.

"Twilight, gimme Spike." I told her.

"Why?"

"They don't allow pets on school grounds." I quickly answered. "If someone catches us with Spike, we're gonna be in a lotta trouble."

Hearing this, she quickly handed me the dog, and I carefully placed him inside the backpack.

"Hey, what's going on?" Spike asked me.

"Just stay in there, and don't try to come out." I instructed him.

"Um... OK." He arranged himself into a comfortable position, and I zipped up the backpack, leaving it partially open for air.

By now, the rush hour had ended, and most of the students were out of the way.

"Let's go." I urged Twilight. "If there's any time to start looking for your crown, it's now."

She nodded, and we began to travel through the halls, searching for anyone that might resemble Sunset. At least, _I_ did that. Twilight seemed to be observing what the other students were doing. Heck if I know why, though.

Since the odds of us finding Sunset Shimmer or the crown were about 337 to 1, I took time to think about what I did.

So apparently, I need to help Twilight with this mission because she either can't do it on her own, or something's gonna destroy reality itself. And that means we need to get the crown back pronto. We just can't be stuck here for 2 and a half years. Not when we've got friends and family back home.

Then again, they might not exist anymore if we fail now. If reality is on the verge of collapse, then it probably won't even matter if we get stuck here.

It's just like the changeling invasion... Do or die.

* * *

After about 5 minutes of searching the halls, we still had no luck. But Twilight seemed to adapt well with being a human, so we got _something_ out of it.

"OK, I've figured something out." I said to Twilight. "While we're here, we'll just pretend we're new students to this school, and no one's gonna suspect anything from us. All we gotta do is find the crown, and get back to the portal before it closes."

"But we don't even know where the crown is." She reminded me.

"I know that as much as you do." I assured her. "That's why we're gonna try and find Sunset first. Since she took it, then she'll know where it is."

Twilight's backpack suddenly opened up, and Spike popped out. "Sounds good to me." Then he took that plastic crown out of the backpack with his paws. "Maybe we could return this one while we're here."

The halls weren't flooding with students, but I didn't wanna risk it. "What are you doing? Get back in there!"

"Oops." He immediately stuck himself back into the bag, and I closed it up.

Luckily, no one noticed him. But I was kinda surprised that the fake crown had survived the trip here. Must have stayed in the saddlebag. Or backpack.

"What about your wand?" Twilight pointed to the weapon's handle sticking out the back of my shirt. "Aren't they gonna notice that?"

"It's not like they're gonna get suspicious the second they see it." I replied. "Besides, they probably won't even care. And even if they do, I won't use my magic. Exposing that kind of power to this world wouldn't exactly end well."

We were about to turn a corner, but a familiar voice caused me to stop for a second.

"Oh, I'm really sorry." The voice said. "I just found it, and I thought I should give it to her. I didn't know _you_ had dropped it."

Is that... Fluttershy?

Then another voice joined her. "Well, I did! And I was about to get it before you swooped in and ruined everything!"

I didn't know what it was about, but I didn't like the sound of it. So I decided to take a look by walking around the corner with Twilight following behind. There was a red and yellow-haired girl cornering a pink-haired girl with blondish skin.

"You shouldn't pick up things that don't belong to you_._" The flame-haired one scolded angrily.

I don't like her tone.

"It... doesn't really belong to you, either." I heard the pink-haired girl comment quietly.

The adversary suddenly slammed both hands onto the lockers as a way of trapping her. "_Excuse me_?!"

That triggered me to step in. "Hey! Leave her alone!"

She immediately turned towards me. "What did you just say?!"

I began walking towards her, prompting her to do the same. "I said to back away from her, and mind your own business! Was that not clear?"

I stared her right in the eye as we stood right in front of each other. But she eventually stopped and released an irritable smirk.

"Hm. You must be new here." She assumed with a mocking voice. "I can speak to anyone any way I want." She walked past me and sent an angry glare at Twilight, who sent a similar look back at her.

"Not while I'm here." I retorted. "You don't have_ any_ right to treat people like that."

"Oh, please. Do you really think I'd listen to a newcomer?" She remarked. "Word of advice. Stay out of my way if you know what's good for you."

"I'm gonna do the exact opposite if I catch you bothering anyone again!" I threatened, holding up a fist. "If I _do, _then this goes through your face!"

Instead of reacting angrily, she narrowed her eyes at me with suspicion, as if she was trying to recognize me from somewhere. But she quickly shook her head and turned the corner, out of my sight. Everyone she passed seemed to be shielding themselves.

"Coward. She didn't even put up a fight." I looked at my fist. "Felt pretty good, though." I turned back around to the nervous victim. "You alright?"

"I can't believe you did that!" She exclaimed softly.

"What, like you thought I _wouldn't_?" I replied. "I couldn't just _watch_!"

"Well, it's just that _nobody_ ever stands up to Sunset Shimmer." She clarified.

That quickly got my attention.

"Sunset Shimmer?" Twilight and I both asked at the same time. How did I not notice that?

"You 2 have heard of her?" She questioned back.

"We heard she's a complete jerk." I kinda made that up, but considering how she was treating this girl, I'd say it was pretty decent.

"I don't think I've seen you around before." The girl realized. "Did you just transfer to Canterlot High from another school?"

"Uh, yeah. Both of us did." I answered. "Name's Ben Cooney."

"I'm Twilight Sparkle." Twilight casually greeted with a few simple gestures. "And you are...?"

"I'm..." She turned away a bit and muttered something I couldn't quite make out.

"What?" I checked.

"It's Fluttershy!" I barely heard her say.

"Fluttershy?" I rechecked.

She just nodded.

Twilight and I shared confused looks. An alternate version of Fluttershy, maybe?

"How can that...?" Twilight began. but I held a hand up, signaling her to save it.

Right about then, Spike suddenly popped out of the backpack and onto the floor, gasping for air. Uh-oh. I forgot to keep leave that thing open for air.

When Fluttershy saw him, she gasped with adoration, and came a bit closer. "Oh my goodness! Who's this sweet little guy?"

"That's Spike! My, uh... dog." Twilight answered, maintaining her subtlety.

"Oh, he's so cute!" Fluttershy complimented. She kneeled down and took out a dog biscuit from her backpack. "Go on. Eat up, little pup."

At first, Spike took a little nibble out of the treat, but then he ate the whole thing, apparently well-adjusted to his new taste buds as a dog.

I suddenly recalled the argument between Sunset and Fluttershy. "Hey, what was Shimmer bothering you about, anyway? Sounded like you took something from her."

"Well... I kind of did. I think." She responded, a bit unsure.

"Uh... I don't follow." I reacted frankly.

So she stood up again, and began an explanation. "It happened this morning, actually. I was passing out flyers for the animal shelter like I do every Wednesday, when something hit me in the back of my head. I looked down, and it turned out to be this crown. Just like the one from this poster that announced the Fall Formal Princess Competition coming in a few days. I have no idea how it got there. But I didn't want anything to happen to it, so I decided to give it to Principal Celestia."

"_Principal _Celestia?" Twilight asked. "She's the ruler here?"

"You could say that." Fluttershy returned. "Technically, I guess she and Vice Principal Luna _do_ make the rules."

"Fall Formal, huh?" I put a hand to my chin. "I think we're gonna want to look into this."

"Where is she now?" Twilight inquired.

"Principal Celestia? She's probably in her office." Fluttershy told us. "3rd door on your left."

"OK. Thanks." I replied.

"No. Thank _you_." She corrected me. "I don't know how I can repay you for standing up to Sunset Shimmer for me."

"That creep? Please. I don't let _anyone_ get away with that kind of garbage." I commented.

I was suddenly interrupted when a familiar-sounding bell rang out a second time.

"Oh, no! I'm late for class!" Fluttershy reminded herself. So she ran off, leaving me, Spike, and Twilight alone in the hall.

When Spike jumped into her backpack, I turned to her with a confident smile. "Come on! We've got work to do!"

* * *

Once again walking through empty halls, I felt like a heavy weight had just been lifted off the both of us. We had just been given a huge load of information on where the crown might be, and I knew exactly where to look now. But if there was one thing I was _definitely _happy about, it was the fact that Sunset Shimmer ended up losing it. So this was gonna be easier than I thought!

After finding the door to the office, I turned to Twilight to give her a heads-up. "Alright, so we've already figured out by now that this dimension has alternate versions of certain people we know. But that doesn't mean they act quite the same way."

"OK... So where exactly are you going with this?" She asked.

"This version of Celestia isn't technically a ruler here." I explained. "If she and Luna are both principal and vice principal, that basically means they manage the school, and its occasions. So there's no need to act royal or anything. We're just gonna pop in and ask her a few questions. Simple as that."

She smiled and nodded, clearly understanding what I meant. So I knocked on the door, and waited for an answer.

And sure enough, I did. "Come in."

So I opened the door, and we both walked in. An adult female stood at a desk, awaiting our approach. I easily recognized her by the hair and skin color.

She was looking through a document folder, but she easily put it down to talk to us. "How may I help you?"

"Hi. I'm Ben Cooney. This is my friend, Twilight. We recently transferred to this school." I introduced. "We heard a student named Fluttershy found a crown this morning and gave it to you."

"Yes. I've had Vice Principal Luna put it somewhere for safekeeping." She confirmed as she got up and put the folder away. "No idea how it ended up in the front lawn. Why do you ask?"

"Because we saw Sunset Shimmer picking on Fluttershy about it." I replied. "I don't know why, but I thought I should let you know."

I actually _did _know why, but would I tell her that? No!

She thought for a moment. "I'll have a talk with her later." She turned to Twilight, who had put her backpack on the floor. "Were you interested in running for Princess of the Fall Formal this year?"

"Uh... No. Not exactly." Twilight answered.

"What _is _the Fall Formal, anyway?" I asked.

"It's Canterlot High's big Fall dance." Celestia stated while marking a calender on the wall.

"Like the Grand Galloping Gala." Twilight mentioned unexpectedly.

"Uh... Grand Galloping Gala?" Celestia inquired.

Luckily, I managed to cover that up. "It's a dance we had at our old school every Summer."

"Oh. Of course." She accepted.

"Anyway, how exactly does someone compete at the Fall Formal?" I questioned.

"It's perfectly simple." She presented 3 pictures on the wall. "Here at Canterlot High, the students select one of their peers to represent them. She receives a crown at the Fall Formal."

The 3 pictures didn't amuse me at all. They all portrayed Sunset Shimmer wearing a dress and a crown on her head. The first one seemed fine, as if she was never cruel in the first place. But the other 2 proved me wrong.

"Can anyone run?" Twilight asked as we both began to walk out.

"Yes. You just need to let the head of the Fall Formal planning committee know you'd like to be on the ballot." She responded. "Was there anything else?"

"No, we're good." I told her. "Thanks for the information, though."

"Well, if you do need anything else, my door is always open." She assured us. "Oh. And welcome to Canterlot High." She then closed the door to her office, and we ventured back out into the halls.

And right when we did, a voice was heard over the intercom. "Would Sunset Shimmer please report to my office?"

Yep. Sounds like we got her out of the way for now.

* * *

We easily made our way back to the center of the school, where the front doors were.

"Why didn't you just tell her the crown was hers and ask for it back?" Spike asked me.

"We can't just admit the truth." I replied, a bit surprised with his question. "Besides, you heard what Celestia said. Even if we _could_ convince her it had magic, we'd upset the balance of this entire universe."

"Ben's right, Spike." Twilight agreed. "Besides, what if one of _them_ showed up in Equestria saying they came from a place filled with tall, fleshy, two-legged creatures with _these_?" She looked at her hands. "We'd think they were crazy!"

Not exactly my way to describe a human, but yeah.

"Hmm. you make a good point." Spike realized.

"Looks like if I want my crown back, I'll have to become Princess of the Canterlot High Fall Formal. So that's what I'm gonna do!" She held her arms up in the air with determination.

"And how exactly do you plan on doing that?" Spike inquired.

"I have no idea!" Twilight admitted, even though she was still smiling.

"Good thing you got me, then." I said to her. "Because I've got a plan that should be able to help us. We're gonna need to find out where the planning committee is before putting it to action, though."

Then a crowd of students began filling the halls again, reacting to the bell. So Twilight and I quickly got out of the way and let them pass. While we waited for them to leave, I noticed a clock up on the wall that revealed the time.

"11:01." I read it out loud. "Lunch hour." I turned to Twilight. "What say we head to the cafeteria and get something to eat?"

"Sure. I'm up for it." She agreed. "Actually, I haven't eaten anything at all today."

"Well, then I'd say this was good timing!" I turned towards the crowd, and caught sight of Fluttershy. "Speaking of which..."

I motioned for Twilight to follow me into the crowd, and we both caught up to her. "Hey, Fluttershy!" I called out.

"Oh, hi guys." She greeted. "You heading to lunch, too?"

"Well, of course!" I replied. "Mind if we join you?"

"Not at all." She accepted. "Come on."

We followed her into a large room with tables, hungry students, and a section where the food was being served. Looked like a pretty ordinary cafeteria, but the way it was arranged brought back memories. Bad ones.

I gritted my teeth and shuddered, removing that incident from my mind. Unfortunately, Twilight noticed.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She asked.

"Uh... Nothing." I quickly denied.

"Ben, I know that look when I see it." She countered. "What's going on?"

I sighed as I took ahold of a lunch tray. "OK, fine. I'll tell you later."

While I searched through the collection of food, Twilight turned to Fluttershy while holding a bowl of fruit. "Hey, I know we've just met you, but we were wondering if you might be able to help us with something."

"Of course!" Fluttershy replied. "What is it you need?"

"Well, I've decided to run for Princess of the Fall Formal, and-" But Twilight's sentence was interrupted when Fluttershy dropped her fruit bowl onto the counter in shock, causing the juice to spill all over Twilight and her clothes.

"Whoa, hey!" I immediately grabbed some napkins and proceeded to wipe the juice off her.

"Oh, gosh! Sorry." She apologized. "It's just... Running for Fall Formal Princess is a _really_ bad idea."

"Why?" Twilight and I both asked.

"Sunset Shimmer wants to be Fall Formal Princess." She answered nervously. "And when she wants something, she gets it!"

At the end of the lunch display, a lunch lady (who I easily recognized as Granny Smith, by the way) handed each of us a red apple before we began searching for a seat.

"She'll make life awful for anyone who stands in her way." Fluttershy continued. "Just ask the girl who ran against her for Princess of the Spring Fling."

"Hey, I'm not gonna let a fire-headed loudmouth try and mess with my friend!" I shot back. "We're giving Shimmer a run for her money whether she likes it or not."

"Oh, I don't think you understand. You'd have to convince _everyone_ here to vote for Twilight instead of her." She explained. "There's the athletes, the fashionistas, the dramas, the eco-kids, the techies, the rockers... You know."

I looked around to see multiple tables filled with people that each had certain characteristics that represented what type of group they were.

"Why is everypony-" The second I heard that from Twilight, I gave her a little nudge with my elbow, reminding her about our cover.

"Uh... Every_body_ separated this way?" She corrected.

We all sat down at an empty table as Fluttershy began explaining that, too. "Maybe it was different at your old school, but at CHS, everybody sticks to their own kind."

"What, because _Shimmer _demanded it?" I inquired, a bit annoyed.

"Not really." She answered. "We just think it's safer. Besides, we're all different from each other. But one thing that we _do_ have in common is that we know Sunset Shimmer is gonna rule the school until we graduate."

A look of subtle anger came across my face, and I just said nothing. I swear, bullying issues just get worse every single year!

"Not if I can help it!" Twilight confidently objected. Then she grabbed the apple on her tray and took a bite out of it. Only problem? She picked it up with her teeth!

"Oh, for..." I did a facepalm and shook my head, feeling completely ridiculous.

When I looked up again, I saw that Twilight had realized her mistake after seeing my mortified gesture. So she awkwardly removed the apple from her mouth with her hands.

"So, uh... Where could we find the head of the party-planning committee?" Twilight asked, developing a sheepish grin.

"If I were you, I'd check the gymnasium." Fluttershy suggested. "She's probably getting that place ready for the Fall Formal right now." She suddenly leaned in a bit closer, and began whispering. "But if I were you, I wouldn't ask her for favors. She's not really trustworthy. I should know."

"Oh... OK." Twilight turned to me. "I guess we know where we're headed after lunch."

While they ate, I just sat there and stared at my food. To be honest, I kinda lost my appetite after hearing Shimmer's little dictatorship over this place. It just made me sick thinking about it.

But I was also wondering why Fluttershy would call the party-planning committee a non-trustworthy type. Or _anyone _at that. Who's she talking about, anyway?

The only thing I _did _eat on my tray was the apple...

* * *

"I mean... Seriously, Twilight. With your _mouth_?" I walked backwards in front of Twilight and lectured her at the same time. "There are several ways to eat an apple in a human world, but I'm pretty sure that's the only _wrong _way. Unless you had your hands tied behind your back."

"Yeah... I wasn't really thinking straight." She admitted embarrassingly. "Sorry."

I turned around and began walking forward again. "Don't worry about it. That's the least of our problems. If Shimmer's gonna try and stop us from getting your crown back, then we're gonna need to be careful." I stopped walking for a second. "But... I still can't figure out why she'd want the Element of Magic so badly."

"What makes you think she's after my Element of Harmony?" Twilight asked.

I turned back towards her. "Think about it. If she was gonna take measures that drastic to take it from Dimension 14, she obviously wouldn't be doing it for the crown itself." I answered seriously. "The Element of Magic is the only explanation for this. And if she needs it that badly, then we could be in a lot of trouble. That's why we need to get the crown back as soon as possible. I just hope we won't be too late..."

"Of course we won't." Twilight assured me. "We're a team! We'll get it back."

"She's right!" Spike agreed when he poked his head out of Twilight's bag. "We can do this! Besides, if you have the know-how for this place, then we'll _definitely _be able to win that crown back!"

Not only did that boost my confidence back up, but it prompted me to smile again. "Well, you know what they say. The harder you work for something, the more you appreciate it!" I saw the doors to the gym up ahead. "Now come on! Let's get you signed up!"

When we walked into the gym, we didn't exactly see any people. But the preparations looked like they were going great! Streamers and balloons were all hanging on the walls, and resting on the floor. There was even a disco ball and a pair of speakers!

"Wow!" I expressed. "Not bad at all! I'd say the party-planning committee is good at her job! Kinda reminds me of the welcome party arranged for me by-"

"_Incoming_!" We suddenly heard a voice call out as a large cluster of rainbow-colored paper came raining down on us.

We easily shook it off when it was over and turned to see a pink-haired girl throwing confetti and streamers from her hand.

"And there's the party-planning committee." I realized.

We both came over to her as she inflated a large balloon. Twilight was the first to introduce herself. "Hi. My name's Twilight Sparkle and..."

The party-planner turned towards us with the balloon still in her mouth, forcing Twilight to duck while I put a hand up to keep the balloon from smacking me. When I got a better look at her, I immediately recognized who she was. And so did Twilight.

"Pinkie Pie?" She asked.

When the girl heard this, she let go of the balloon with her mouth and it deflated right in her face. Then she suddenly came up from behind us and grabbed Twilight's collar, eyeing her right in the face.

"Are you psychic?" She asked, implying that Twilight had stated her name correctly.

I put my hand on Pinkie's shoulder. "No, she's not."

"Okey-dokey-lokey!" She let go of Twilight, and walked about a yard away from us to blow up another balloon while I helped Twilight get up off the floor.

"Fluttershy said this is where we'd find the head of the Fall Formal planning committee." Twilight explained our presence. "Would that be you, by any chance?"

Instead of answering the question, she turned to us with an angry look while tying up the balloon. "Fluttershy, huh? Don't let the whole 'shy' thing fool you. She can be a real meanie."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. Did those 2 hold a grudge against each other?

"You mean you 2 aren't friends?" Twilight questioned.

Then Pinkie avoided _that _question by changing the subject. "Waited a bit to get your name on the ballot, huh? Dance is day after tomorrow."

"Good to know." I acknowledged, remembering when the portal to home would close. "We're actually new here."

"Ooh! I thought you didn't look familiar! Anywho..." She unexpectedly took a clipboard and pen out of her hair. "Just need to fill this out and you are officially up for the coveted Princess of the Fall Formal crown."

She expected Twilight to sign it, but I already knew Twilight was used to writing with her magic.

So I took the pen myself. "I'll do it." I easily scratched her name on the sheet of paper, under Sunset's signature. "This'll teach Shimmer a thing or 2."

After I handed the pen back to Pinkie, the doors to the gym opened up again, revealing yet _another _familiar face holding a large crate.

"Somebody order a dozen cases of fizzy apple cider?" The girl asked with a certain accent.

I'd recognize that voice anywhere!

Pinkie immediately chimed in. "Oh! Oh! Me, me-me-me, me, yeah, ha ha, me!"

"Can you bring in the rest?" She said to someone who walked in.

"Eeyup." That person happened to be Big Macintosh's double, who carried in 3 more juice crates.

I just watched them unload the cider, happy to see some familiar faces around here.

Then Applejack's alternate self noticed me. "Hey. I know you."

"Really?"

"Sure. You're the new guy who gave Sunset Shimmer the what-for today. Ben Cooney, was it?" She took one of the cider bottles and began drinking from it.

Just hearing the name agitated me. "_Everyone's _heard about that? How long has Shimmer even been here?"

"Uh... I'd say a few years." Applejack shot a friendly look at Twilight. "And I assume this gal here is with you?"

"Yeah. We're friends." Twilight held out her hand. "I'm Twilight Sparkle."

The cowgirl eagerly shook her free hand. "Applejack." Then she continued drinking from her cider bottle.

"Twilight Sparkle here is gonna run against Sunset Shimmer for Princess of the Fall Formal." Pinkie mentioned before she blew up another balloon. "And Ben's gonna help her!"

When Applejack heard that, her eyes widened, and she spat out all the cider in her mouth. Then she turned to us with a serious expression.

"I'd think twice about _that_." She recommended. "Oh, sure, she'll probably approach you all friendly like..." She took a red, heart-shaped balloon from a floating Pinkie, drew on it with a marker, and put tape on the other side.

She held it up and showed a doodled portrait of Sunset Shimmer. "'I sure am lookin' forward to some friendly competition.'" She imitated Shimmer's voice.

Then she took a yellow balloon and scribbled Twilight's face onto it. "'That's so good to hear.'"

She reverted back to her normal voice and turned the red balloon around, revealing a nail taped to the back. "But then, here comes the backstabbin'." She popped the yellow balloon and the remains just landed on the floor.

"I find that hard to believe." I rang in my opinion. "After seeing me get in her way this morning, she's probably gonna _freak_ the second she catches sight of me again!" I laughed a bit and held up a fist. "Not that I wouldn't be ready for it, of course."

"OK." Applejack reluctantly accepted. "But don't say I didn't warn ya. About the only girl in this school you can trust less than Sunset Shimmer is Rainbow Dash. And that's sayin' somethin'!"

"Rainbow Dash?" Twilight inquired.

Pinkie answered that for us while she bounced around on a large balloon. "She's the captain of, like, _every_ team at Canterlot High."

After the balloon popped, Applejack continued bitterly. "She's also the captain of sayin' she's gonna do somethin' for ya, and then turnin' around and not even botherin' to show up!"

"_That_ doesn't sound right..." I muttered to myself. She's the Spirit of the Element of Loyalty. How would _that _make any sense?

I just shook my head, hoping to look into it more. "Alright. Thanks for the heads-up. Either way, I'll be able to protect myself. But, to be honest, I'd rather be protecting _her_." I stuck my thumb out to Twilight. "I can take a hit just as well as the next guy, but I stick with Twilight no matter what."

I turned to Twilight and winked. She just blushed in response.

"Well, that's just dandy." Applejack reacted cheerfully. "Good luck, you 2!"

I nodded, and the 2 of us turned to leave the gym.

"Wait a minute, hold on!" She suddenly spoke up again when we reached the doors.

When I turned back around, Applejack came over to me with a hand to her chin.

"What's that thing stickin' out the back of your shirt?" She pointed to my wand.

Inside, I kinda freaked out. But luckily, I didn't show it. Instead, I just drew the weapon. "What, this? Oh, it's just something I carved in my spare time. I have a tendency to carry it around with me."

She was pretty impressed by its smooth appearance. "Wow... It must have taken _years_ of work!"

"Nah, it was easy, really." I tucked the wand back into my shirt. "Anyway... We gotta go. See you guys later, OK?"

Twilight and I turned back around again and left the gym, now content that we had officially started the battle for the crown.

* * *

"Something's not right." Twilight said as we walked through the halls again. "First we find out Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie aren't friends, then Applejack and Rainbow Dash. What's going on?"

"Heck if I know." I replied. "But I'm starting to think maybe we should figure it out."

"What about my crown?" She asked. "We can't forget about that, either."

"I know, I know." I assured her. "I don't think they were always like this, though."

"Well... It isn't technically _our_ business, is it?" She wondered. "I mean, just because they're alternate versions of our friends, it doesn't mean they're our actual friends. Right?"

"Maybe not." I admitted. "But I still think we should help them."

"I guess that depends on how we spend our time here." Twilight assumed. "Hey... About that incident at the cafeteria... Were you OK back there?"

"Oh, yeah... That." I didn't exactly wanna tell her amidst the other students, but then I noticed a small, dim hallway with a flickering light. Judging by all the cobwebs and such, it looked like no one ever came here.

So I led her into there where I could talk to her privately. "First, lemme just remind you. I wasn't always a confident type. I didn't just go through my family's divorce. I had this thing called social anxiety a few years ago. The only time I ever felt safe was when I stayed home. And that was because of this guy at middle school. It was Jonathon, that guy who tried attacking my sister the same day I got my powers. You know. Anyway, all he ever did was torture me and drive me crazy there. Could've been because I was shorter than regular students or something. I don't know. But I couldn't stand it. The cafeteria reminded me of the worst thing he _ever _did to me. He actually snuck up from behind me in the lunch line, grabbed my left hand and... and pressed it against the stove while it was on. He held it there for a good 7 seconds before someone could get him away from me. Got a 2nd-degree burn after that. It healed quickly, but I don't think I'll _ever _forget the pain."

Twilight gasped. "That's horrible! Did he get in trouble?"

"Totally. Not that it helped my case." I continued. "The next day, he forced me into a corner and tried to give me a bloody nose for getting him into detention for the next 2 months. But then another guy about my height gave him a huge kick to the shins, yelling at him to leave me alone. Jon looked like he was gonna go after _him _next, but he just walked away instead. I couldn't have been more grateful. Believe it or not, the guy who stood up to him was Wesley. We became friends, and Jonathon left us alone from then on. Although... He and his gang _did _try and catch us whenever we went down to that store nearby our neighborhood, but they never actually succeeded. Wesley and I were pretty fast."

"Hm. Well, I'm glad everything turned out OK for you." She said. "Still, that sounds pretty harsh."

"Ever since, I've hated bullying more than _anything_." I proceeded. "It just isn't right. That's why I'm gonna do what I can to get your crown back, and make Sunset regret everything she's ever done here."

"Oh, I don't think I'll be letting you do that." A voice suddenly piped up behind us. I immediately turned and saw her leaning against the locker. "Can't believe I didn't recognize you earlier."

I stepped in front of Twilight to protect her. "Well... If it isn't Sunset Scumbag. I can see you've been left unfazed after I turned you in this morning."

She just ignored me and came walking up to us. "Shoulda known Princess Celestia would send her prized pupil here after my crown. And her worthless friend."

I narrowed my eyes. "It was never yours to begin with, you arrogant dipstick!"

"Whatever. This is just a minor setback for me." She stated while walking around us. "You 2 don't know the first thing about this place, and _I_ already rule it."

"You don't rule it. Everyone just fears you." I countered. "And for the record, I know _everything _about this world."

"And how am I supposed to believe that?" She said skeptically. "Something like you doesn't just turn up in Equestria."

"Because Ben came from an alternate world just like this one!" Twilight shot back. "He's been a human all his life!"

"All _you've_ been is a complete jerk!" I took the plastic crown out of Twilight's bag. "Besides, if you 'rule' it, then why didn't you keep _this_ crown?"

"Pop quiz: What happens when you bring an Element of Harmony into an alternate world?" She challenged Twilight.

Twilight couldn't even answer that.

"You don't know? Seriously?" She laughed a bit. "And _you're_ supposed to be Princess Celestia's star student? Then again, what were the chances she'd find somepony as bright as _me_ to take under her wing after _I_ decided to leave Equestria? Bit embarrassing that you were the best she could do."

When she said _that_, I flipped out _big-time_. First, I threw the plastic crown at her face, then I held her against the wall, and drew my wand, which began glowing red again.

"Ben, what are you-" Twilight began. But I didn't listen.

"_Do you know that this is_?!" I yelled furiously. "**_Do you_**?!_ Because_ _this thing is capable of taking your **life** if you say one more word_!"

She only stared back at the wand in shock. "Listen to me very closely, you selfish disgrace! I don't care what kind of power you think you have in this world! You do _not_ insult Twilight around me! She has more magic than 50 of you put together!"

I eventually removed my arm and put my wand back, but my expression didn't change. "And by the way, when you take an Element of Harmony to another universe, nothing happens. All that happens is that it keeps its magic, _and _it upsets the connection between every existing universe. We're _not _letting you get away with this. We're gonna get that crown back. And if you try _anything _to hurt Twilight, I _will _make you regret it."

Instead of responding with a smirk, an angry glare came across her face. "You little... Fine! If you 2 wanna play it that way, then it is officially on!" She turned and began to walk away. "I have better things to do than waste my time with a bunch of lost causes, anyway."

"Get a life." I remarked as she stormed off. She's even worse than Queen Chrysalis!

"Wow. I've _never _seen you that angry." Spike commented.

I felt Twilight put her hand on my shoulder. "You didn't need to do that, you know."

"Yeah, I did." I turned to her. "She messes with you, she messes with me. And I will _not _tolerate that. No one's gonna hurt you on my watch."

Right about then, the light above us burned out, signaling me to take Twilight's hand. "Let's get out of here."

We quickly left the abandoned hallway, and back into the light.

"It's strange, though." I mentioned. "I felt something in her that seems a bit off."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I think she's... corrupted, in a strange way." I explained. "There seems to be a part of her that feels regretful, as if she doesn't like what she's doing to this school. It's like she has 2 sides, and her corrupted side has taken control. Meanwhile, her good side is trapped and forced to watch what happens. As crazy as this sounds, I think we need to help her, too."

"How in Equestria are we gonna do _that_?" She questioned.

"I don't know." I answered. "But I do know that the Magic of Friendship works in several ways. And I'm pretty sure that's what we need to help her. Like when you helped me."

Twilight's cheeks just reddened again.

* * *

Sometime later, I realized Twilight had stopped walking, due to her catching sight of a snack vending machine nearby.

I quickly realized what her intentions were, so I began searching for any money in my pocket. I eventually ended up finding a quarter somewhere in there, so I took it out and came over to her. Not knowing how the machine worked, she was trying to find a way to open it, but quickly gave up.

She turned to me. "How exactly do these things work? Is there a door or something?"

I flipped the quarter with my thumb and caught it when it came back down. "No. All it takes is a little money. Which one?"

"That fruit box." She pointed to a small package behind the glass that had a picture of a strawberry and an orange on the front.

Lucky for me, everything but the peanut butter crackers were only 25 cents. So I put the coin into the slot, pressed the code needed to send it out, and the machine easily took effect by pushing the fruit box down behind the glass door at the bottom, which I opened to retrieve the snack.

I handed it to Twilight. "There you go."

"Thanks." She opened up the box and took out a strawberry. "I didn't eat much at the cafeteria, so... You know."

"Me neither." I replied. "I mean, I _did _eat the apple, but I can only go for so long without getting a decent snack at 3:00 or so."

"Hm." She took a bite out of her strawberry when we started walking again. "You know... I think Sunset Shimmer is right."

My eyes widened. "Did you just say what I think you said?" I asked, almost speechless. "I thought I told you we shouldn't let her words get to us."

"I'm not." She responded as she took another fruit out of the box. "But she actually _is_ right about me not knowing that much about this universe."

"And that's why I'm here to teach you." I assured her. "You taught me about magic, I might as well tutor you in return."

She smiled back. "You don't know how grateful I am to hear that, Ben."

But I had more to say. "Hey, speaking of tutor and study... How about we head to the school library for some research and preparation?"

She quickly perked up hearing this. "Of course! I'd be more than happy to go there! Where do we find it?"

"I saw a map of the school earlier." I mentioned. "If I recall correctly, the library should be right about..."

I turned towards a set of open double-doors that revealed bookshelves as far as the eye could see. "...here! Come on!"

We invited ourselves in and got a better look. As expected, there was barely anyone in here, since it was the middle of another class period. Guess that means we have the place to ourselves for now.

"Wow." Twilight looked around at the large display of books. "Where should I start?"

"Well, you could always look into the school's history." I suggested. "Maybe get a good idea on how the student body works."

"That's one possibility..." She agreed. "Oh! What if we tried _your_ idea?"

"Oh, yeah! I forgot about that." I sat at a nearby computer, and turned on an empty word document. "Come here."

When she came over, I started to type some words into the document. "So I've not only figured out how to get the other students to vote for you, but I've also got a way to remove Sunset's power over the school by creating a candidate poster that'll convince everyone to band together, and stand up to her. Kind of like an anti-bullying program. I'll provide the posters, and you can prepare a speech."

"That's a great idea!" She concurred excitedly. "But... How am I gonna get a speech ready?"

"Oh... Hadn't thought of that." I began to think of a solution, but I was suddenly interrupted by the sound of music coming from another computer.

"What the...?" I tilted my head towards the noise, and saw 3 kids bobbing to the music, which they had apparently turned on. They looked like the Cutie Mark Crusaders trio! But the way they were reacting to the music just made me raise an eyebrow.

A nearby librarian walked over to them and turned off the speaker. "Uh, girls... What are you doing?" Miss Cheerilee?

"We're just seeing how many hits our new music video has gotten." One of them answered. By the looks of her, she was probably Sweetie Belle.

Wait a minute... Music video? They've got YouTube here?

They turned the speaker back on and started dancing with the music again. The lyrics seemed a bit... unusual.

Miss Cheerilee took the speaker away, automatically turning off the sound. "No, just... No! The school computers are for research purposes only."

Apple Bloom realized she was right. "It's just as well, y'all. Some of the comments about our song were really awful." She grabbed the mouse and moved it around a bit. "'Epic fail'... 'Funniest thing I've ever seen'?"

Then Sweetie Belle seemed to get an idea, based on her expression. "Funniest thing they've ever seen, huh?"

They all seemed to agree with Sweetie Belle's supposed epiphany, and all began to leave the library.

"Uh, I don't know that _that's_ what you should take from..." Twilight tried to warn them. But they either didn't listen, or they didn't hear her._  
_

I stood up and got a closer look at that computer. It _was _YouTube! They actually had that here. Huh. I guess that's another similarity between this world and mine.

I went back to the other computer, and sat back down. "Anyway... Where were we?"

* * *

For the rest of the day, we stayed at the library and did as much research as possible. While Twilight resorted to the books, I managed to create the needed posters to spread the word about Twilight's coming, and our little resistance to Sunset's so-called rule. I also tried teaching Twilight how to use a keyboard so she could print her speech. At first, she tried using her fists to type, but I quickly showed her the ropes, and she eventually got the hang of it.

When we got the posters and speech prepared, we got into a little incident with the printers that we had to clean up. Luckily, that didn't last long. But the whole time we were there, I had a really strange feeling. It was like we were being watched or something. But I've felt that before, to be honest. So I didn't take it seriously.

We had been studying and reading for so long, I completely lost track of time. And the announcement speakers managed to refresh my memory. "The library will be closing in five minutes."

Twilight realized it, too. "Oh, no! I hadn't even thought about where we're gonna sleep tonight!"

"Neither did I." I admitted. I didn't even realize how dark it had gotten.

"Way ahead of you." Spike, who had been reading under our table, walked out and prompted us to follow.

We all went upstairs, where he led us to the corner of the library. He stood next to a large blanket that was covering something up.

He grabbed the blanket with his paw and pulled the blanket off, coughing a bit from the resulting dust. "It's a little dusty, but it doesn't seem like anybody comes up here."

Turns out, he made 2 beds made out of the books we didn't read.

"Hm. Clever." I complimented.

"It's perfect, Spike." Twilight sat down on hers and scratched him on the head to show her gratitude.

I sat on my book-bed and felt around it. "Wow. For a mattress made of reading material, this is actually really comfy."

"Really? Thanks!" Spike replied. "So how did your research go?"

"Well, we managed to find this school yearbook, as Ben pointed out." Twilight took out the exact book she mentioned. "It's something they use to keep a record of things that have happened at the school." She began to flip through the pages, but she stopped when she came across one specific part. "Hey, Ben. Look at this."

I got up and came over to her bed. She was pointing at a photo that portrayed 5 young, but easy-to-identify girls. "That's Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and I'm gonna bet the girl on the far right is Rarity."

Spike suddenly grabbed the book and looked at the picture himself. "There's a Rarity here?!"

_That _definitely doesn't surprise me.

He didn't look at the picture for long. Because when he turned back around to give the book back, he looked a bit embarrassed. "I mean, uh... Interesting photo."

"It's interesting because they look like they're friends." Twilight noted when she looked at the picture again.

"They _do_ look like our friends." Spike responded. "But I thought we'd figured that out already."

"She didn't say _our _friends." I reminded him. "She said they look like they're friends with each other."

"Exactly. But it doesn't seem like they're friends now." She rested her head on an open book, using it as a pillow. "And I just can't help but get the feeling that Sunset Shimmer had something to do with it."

"Correction. _Everything _to do with it." I said when I sat back down in my bed. "If they were friends before, then they couldn't just agree to separate on their own. Something's obviously happened. Or some_one_. Who else would try to drive them apart, anyway?"

"I wouldn't put it past her, either." Spike agreed as he jumped onto Twilight's bed. "But she wanted your crown because she's planning on doing something even worse! If you're gonna stop her, you have to focus on _making_ friends here. Can't worry about why _these_ girls aren't friends anymore." He yawned. "Even if they _do_ remind you of your Ponyville friends..."

Twilight, who had used the blanket as a bedsheet, wrapped her arm around him. "You're right, Spike... Eye on the prize."

While she tried to head to sleep, I just sat there and looked up at the moonlit sky through the glass ceiling. I didn't really feel the same way. I _wanted _to find out what was going on between them, especially Sunset. If she _did _cause their departure, then why? Does it have something to do with her abandoning Celestia? Or maybe she's... lonely.

After 5 minutes, these thoughts were put aside when I realized something. If this library is officially closed, then isn't there gonna be any security officer patrolling this place?

I got up and quietly went over to the edge of the second floor, where I could see the rest of the library down below. OK, good. No security. I turned to go back, but then I caught sight of another window nearby. So I decided to get a bit closer.

I peered through it and saw the school grounds. Thanks to the street lights, I could also see some city buildings in the distance. Just the sight of it reminded me of home. But I wasn't homesick this time. I was just happy about my family being safe, and in God's hands. And then I started thinking of Him.

I still can't believe He's given me so much potential. And because of that, look where I am now. But if there's one thing I definitely can't believe, it's the fact that I actually saw God in person with my own eyes. And when I did at that time, I wasn't even happy to see Him. Kinda makes me guilt-ridden. I wonder if another Christian would believe me if I told him or her what I saw.

It's kinda like that kid who claims he saw Heaven after he died when his appendix burst. And he was miraculously brought back to life to tell everyone what he saw. He actually discovered he would have had 2 sisters if one of them didn't die in his mother's womb. And she knew that perfectly well. It was pretty much the stuff of legend.

But combine that with what _I _saw... Imagine if that kid and I both talked about our glimpse of Heaven's king. Then again, it's not like anyone would believe me when I tell them about these universes. Oh, well.

My thoughts were interrupted when I unexpectedly heard Twilight from behind me. "Ben? Is that you?"

I turned to see her peeking around one of the bookshelves. She saw me and quietly walked over to me. "What are you doing over here?"

"I thought you were asleep." I replied. "Where's Spike?"

"I managed to keep from waking him up." She answered.

"Oh. OK." I turned back around and stared out the window. But then I felt her put a hand on my shoulder, causing me to turn back.

"Hey, Ben? Listen. There's... There's something I've been meaning to tell you." She said.

"What?" I asked.

"You remember when we went to the Clover Cafe'?" She began nervously. "When we touched hoof and hand? Well... I know I said to put that behind us for a while, but... When that happened, I felt something I've never felt before. And... This is probably gonna sound weird, but... I think I..."

I already knew what she meant, so I calmly cut her off. "Say no more... The feeling's mutual."

Her eyes widened a bit. "You... You feel the same way?"

I just smiled. "As strange as it is... Yeah. I do."

She reacted by looking away and blushing.

"I know. It's something I didn't really expect, either." I continued. "I wasn't really interested in that kind of thing before, but..." I took ahold of her hand, prompting her to turn back to me. "I think maybe I could try it out with you, even if we're not originally the same race."

"But what would the others think?" She questioned worriedly.

"Don't worry. We can figure that out." I assured her. "Let's just keep this between us for now, OK?"

Twilight just nodded and smiled, still keeping the redness in her cheeks.

"Come on. Let's get some sleep." Still holding her hand, I led her back to our sleeping spots.

"Hey... If you don't mind me asking..." Twilight began as she lay back down in her bed. "Why exactly did you and Spike come with me to this world?"

I thought for a moment, obviously not intent on mentioning Leo. "I... kinda panicked. Don't know if Spike felt the same, but at least you're not alone, right?"

"Yeah... I guess I'm lucky you came along... Anyway... See you tomorrow, OK?"

I got into my bed and watched as Twilight closed her eyes, preparing for Day 2 at Canterlot High.

I did the same, but it took time for my awareness to drift away. I was a bit too joyful about what just happened the between the 2 of us.

The spark has officially ignited.


End file.
